Well since Clever Bird's monumental cock-up yesterday, making Hormonal Hannah miss her Stress Management Course by 24-hours, Baggy has been a mess! Hannah is too strong a personality to be kept at bay for terribly long at the moment it would seem. But at least Baggy was so exhausted by all the drama that she slept pretty well last night for once. In fact she had a lie-in. Quite right bloggees, she shouldn't have done - it's against the Stress Management strategy, but she did anyway. So she had to shoot straight out for her appointment at her beauty parlour in Long Melford (she needs all the help she can get) without time for Furry Mama to walk Minty Mutt first.
Before coming home Hannah felt a bit sorry for Baggy and took her for a cappuccino first (well yes - and a sausage roll and a piece of lemon cake), flipping hopeless woman! Comfort eating when it's Fat Club tomorrow is not terribly helpful. Still, it did cheer Baggy up. It also gave Furry Mama the energy to take Minty Mutt out for a walk. When they got home Baggy emptied the post box. There were a few letters, including one from the NHS. "Weird", thought Clever Bird as she opened it.
Re: Treatment
"What treatment?", wondered Freda Fretter, "Have I missed something?" Clever Bird read on:
"Unfortunately you did not attend your most recent Stress Control class. I am therefore assuming that you no longer wish to be contacted by the Service, and have discharged you accordingly".
Seriously - WHAT? No, letter or call to check that Baggy is actually okay, or had a genuine reason for not attending. It's not as if she's worried about stuff and depressed is it? Not as if she might need help? Not as if she just made a monumental cock-up in her stressed state of mind? No, thanks for that, just send out a letter literally the day of the course, with no suggestion even that perhaps Baggy should call with an explanation! (Which incidentally she did within two minutes of discovering her stupid mistake). Clever Bird read on through Hormonal Hannah's panic tears:
"At the point of referral your score on our PHQ9 questionnaire, measuring depression symptoms, was 7/27. At the last session your score was 11/27. Your score on our GAD7 questionnaire, measuring anxiety symptoms was 6/21. At the last session your score was 13/21".
"So not the 7 and 8 scores that Baggy was told at the time", thought Clever Bird, "and not out of 10 either, which is good news. But, they've got worse - considerably worse in fact!" Yet without any discussion Baggy has been "discharged". Hormonal Hannah lost it - for once she got cross, not teary and made Baggy phone to explain (again) that she had not missed the session intentionally and would like to be put on the next course. Another lovely lady said "Not to worry, she would speak to the counsellor and make sure yesterday's conversation was made clear". Hmmmm!? Clever Bird decided that Baggy needed to be worn out and dragged her out to the garden so that Creative Clara could carry on painting the sheds. Two hours later she came back in to do this blog and re-read the letter. And noticed that they had copied it to Baggy's GP. Bearing in mind that Baggy has received the date for her first counselling session at the GP's surgery (through the same referral system), this put Hormonal Hannah into a meltdown (again). Does "(we) have discharged you" mean that Baggy has lost this counselling as well? Counselling that she clearly needs! Clever Bird leapt on the phone, but of course it was 5.45pm so no one was there. Baggy is now stressed to hell because she can't stop Freda Fretter worrying that Clever Bird has mucked this up too.
Thanks a lot people who are supposed to be helping and what a waste of time and money, leaping so quickly to wrong conclusions and stressing out the people you are supposed to be helping to de-stress! Baggy is pretty low on these scores, but Clever Bird cannot believe that Baggy is the only one to ever make that mistake. Clever Bird cannot understand how a service that is so good in one way, can be so poor in another. And breathe..........
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