Thank you for sharing your experiences with local mental health services. We are committed to taking these stories to service providers and commissioners in Brent, to make sure the voices of patients are heard and acted on. The information you share will help build up a picture of what it's like for people living in Brent to try and access mental health care. This will show service providers what things are like from a patient’s point of view.

We know that not everyone enjoys writing about their experience. If you prefer, you can have a conversation with our team and we will record what you tell us. Email info@healthwatchbrent.co.uk to set up a time to call. We’re also happy for people to contribute other types of information to this project. If you would like to record a video of yourself talking about your experiences, or share a picture that represents what happened, please email us to let us know. 
 

Please use the space below to share your story about using mental health services in Brent. 
Here are some things to include: 
A summary of your experience – what services have you been in touch with and what happened as a result?
How have these experiences affected you?
Is there anything that you think is going well?
Is there anything that needs to be improved?
Did staff treat you with kindness and compassion?
Have you been able to get the help you need, or are your issues ongoing?

You can write as much or as little as you feel comfortable with. Try to make sure you’ve included enough detail for people to understand what happened and the impact it has had on you. *

 
Here are some additional prompts to consider when sharing your story in the box above. You might want to include information about some or all of the topics below. 
  • What caused you to reach out to mental health services?
  • What service did you access / what service did they refer you to?
  • Was this your preferred choice of service? / Did you want a different referral?
  • Was there any factors that helped you or stopped you from getting support?
  • What support would you want access to in the future?
  • Are there any cultural/religious/gender or other factors that helped/limited your access to services?
  • What was your overall experience of the service?
  • Did the support you got make any difference?
  • Do you feel that you have experienced any loneliness or isolation as a result of this process?
  • Feedback on experience of the service work ethnic/attitude?
  • Feedback on the referral system – Did they refer you to another service?

How would you rate your overall experience of mental health care in Brent?

 

Do you fee confident to speak up about your mental health needs?

 

Do you know what services are available to support mental health in Brent?

 

What do you wish local mental health services knew or understood?

 

What word or phrase would you use to describe your experience with mental health services?