3rd world NHS

[northernladyuk]

NHS provided care for our son gets worse and worse. It got to crisis point a few weeks ago. Son is a very troubled young man. I tried to contact CAMHS again and they didnt even call me back.

In the end, I got a bit arsey and they had the cheek to tell me its not their problem, I should contact Social Services, the police, and look at my parenting skills! Bearing in mind hes not had a proper diagnosis yet.

In the end, A&E was the only place. Pointless that was. There is no on-call/out of hours psych person available like there would be for an adult. They were nice enough in A&E but best they could do was talk CAMHS into pushing his next appointment forward.

So, paid for consultant adolescent psych. Not so easy to find - ended up having to go to Bristol 40 miles away.£220 a pop so with follow-up its over £400. Obviously, for a contractor its affordable. Fair play it was brilliant - hes got a proper diagnosis, been recommended medication etc.

BUT of course, not everyone can afford this. Scandalous to think of families left high and dry. And to think its common knowledge that teenage suicide is an issue in the UK.

Last few weeks have been a real eye opener to see how bad the NHS is....

Also, too late for this now, but it sort of convinced me to pay for private health insurance now. Don't want to be in same position (Albeit different complaint) with a family member in a few years and find how crap that department is.

Sorry to hear your story. Mental health services are shockingly underfunded and your son is really falling through the gaps around crisis CAMHS services. Have you tried any local / regional / Welsh advocacy charity. There must be one and they may have advice on how to navigate.

[psychocandy]

Sorry to hear your story. Mental health services are shockingly underfunded and your son is really falling through the gaps around crisis CAMHS services. Have you tried any local / regional / Welsh advocacy charity. There must be one and they may have advice on how to navigate.

Aye. Yep tried a load of the charities/other organisations. Got mixed response to be honest.
One such place sent a youth worker. Nice enough young lady but she was pretty much just an unqualified social worker - waste of time that was.

[psychocandy]

So anyone else on here got an autistic/aspergers child?

Honestly, you do really get to see how bad the nhs is. Awful. Over a year a now and we haven't really got a proper diagnosis.

Things go from bad to worse (hes starting to get violent now which is a bit of a worry for a 14-15 year old). There is literally no-one out there to help you.

Advice so far from CAMHS people (the juvenile mental health) is to call the police. Hmmm - A) not sure if police are going to have any clue and B) not sure if thats really going to help.

Son is completely disinterested in helping himself or listening to professionals advice. Does not give a monkeys....

Ain't easy. /rantover

[SimonMac]

So anyone else on here got an autistic/aspergers child?

Honestly, you do really get to see how bad the nhs is. Awful. Over a year a now and we haven't really got a proper diagnosis.

Things go from bad to worse (hes starting to get violent now which is a bit of a worry for a 14-15 year old). There is literally no-one out there to help you.

Advice so far from CAMHS people (the juvenile mental health) is to call the police. Hmmm - A) not sure if police are going to have any clue and B) not sure if thats really going to help.

Son is completely disinterested in helping himself or listening to professionals advice. Does not give a monkeys....

Ain't easy. /rantover

Two children on the spectrum (out of 5) diagnosed, no issues with the NHS or school, both have supported us all the way, he question is what do you hope the diagnosis will do as you say the help won't be there anyway

[MyUserName]

So anyone else on here got an autistic/aspergers child?

Yep, autistic 9 year old daughter and a deaf 6 year old son. Currently she is doing okay (no worse than usual) but our son is playing up a lot. Everything at home is heavily influenced by my daughter. My son cannot even make noises as he is playing (vooshing for spaceships etc.) because the noise causes her to flip out. She is extremely strong for her size and has no sense of restraint when she flips so often the only thing that stops him getting hurt is the fact that we get to her before she gets to him. So I think he is trying to take control of things at school being as he has so little at home.

The worry for my daughter is that as she gets older she will go to secondary school and the social dynamics will become more complex and she will have to find a way to deal with gangs of teenage girls. I have seen how evil they can be to each other. Anything else I am pretty sure we can handle but that is one thing that bothers me.

[psychocandy]

Two children on the spectrum (out of 5) diagnosed, no issues with the NHS or school, both have supported us all the way, he question is what do you hope the diagnosis will do as you say the help won't be there anyway

Probably lucky then. NHS managed to "lose" his referral to CAMHS twice. Then we've had about 4 occasions where appt is cancelled at last minute due to someone phoning in sick (place must have a bad sick record).

School - we're still waiting months for them to send their referral form in.

You're right though - diagnosis wont matter. But at least we can try to get help.

[psychocandy]

Yep, autistic 9 year old daughter and a deaf 6 year old son. Currently she is doing okay (no worse than usual) but our son is playing up a lot. Everything at home is heavily influenced by my daughter. My son cannot even make noises as he is playing (vooshing for spaceships etc.) because the noise causes her to flip out. She is extremely strong for her size and has no sense of restraint when she flips so often the only thing that stops him getting hurt is the fact that we get to her before she gets to him. So I think he is trying to take control of things at school being as he has so little at home.

The worry for my daughter is that as she gets older she will go to secondary school and the social dynamics will become more complex and she will have to find a way to deal with gangs of teenage girls. I have seen how evil they can be to each other. Anything else I am pretty sure we can handle but that is one thing that bothers me.

Yeh not cool. Another thing (as Im finding out) is that when they get to 14/15 years old its not so easy because they are quite big.

I've got a 4 year old also and he has lost his rag with her once or twice. Which is worrying.

[Paddy]

So anyone else on here got an autistic/aspergers child?

Honestly, you do really get to see how bad the nhs is. Awful. Over a year a now and we haven't really got a proper diagnosis.

Things go from bad to worse (hes starting to get violent now which is a bit of a worry for a 14-15 year old). There is literally no-one out there to help you.

Advice so far from CAMHS people (the juvenile mental health) is to call the police. Hmmm - A) not sure if police are going to have any clue and B) not sure if thats really going to help.

Son is completely disinterested in helping himself or listening to professionals advice. Does not give a monkeys....

Ain't easy. /rantover

The NHS was set up for emergency treatment however there has been mission creep. I don't think it is right that the NHS is used for enhanced non-medical treatment.

I don't like NHS dentists, therefore I pay privately. I also pay privately up-front any treatment I see fit to have. However,the NHS does a great job sticking lasers up my arse.

If you are not happy with treatment for your autistic/aspergers child, then as a contractor you can afford to pay up front privately rather than driving around in your expensive show-off cars.

[SueEllen]

The NHS was set up for emergency treatment however there has been mission creep. I don't think it is right that the NHS is used for enhanced non-medical treatment.

I don't like NHS dentists, therefore I pay privately. I also pay privately up-front any treatment I see fit to have. However,the NHS does a great job sticking lasers up my arse.

If you are not happy with treatment for your autistic/aspergers child, then as a contractor you can afford to pay up front privately rather than driving around in your expensive show-off cars.

Can you show me the historical documents where it says the NHS was set up for emergency treatment?

[psychocandy]

The NHS was set up for emergency treatment however there has been mission creep. I don't think it is right that the NHS is used for enhanced non-medical treatment.

I don't like NHS dentists, therefore I pay privately. I also pay privately up-front any treatment I see fit to have. However,the NHS does a great job sticking lasers up my arse.

If you are not happy with treatment for your autistic/aspergers child, then as a contractor you can afford to pay up front privately rather than driving around in your expensive show-off cars.

Nice comments mate. Glad you think something like this not important - methinks you have a bit of a narrow view of the world.

Something tells me you seem to think that autism/aspergers is something thats a bit "optional" like plastic surgery?