Possibly some progress at last!

Went to a meeting of NHS Trust workers about local mental health services. Not many non-nhs peeps came so the docs and admin got embarrassed by lots of questions and 'service user' stories from those of us who had turned up.
(What a joke! They talked and talked about 'breaking down the stigma attached to mental illness', but insist on calling patients and outpatients 'service users' LOL)
Got names, email addys and leaflets. I now have a 24 hr carer's helpline to call, too.

There was also a presentation on a new dementia care unit opened two weeks ago attached to Colchester hospital. They offer lots of things to outpatients, like art & craft, music, gardening, exercise, therapy, etc. But you have to be in the system. You can't self-refer.

This means mum would have to already be under the care of a psychiatrist specialising in dementia. -Which is what I have asked the GP for several times, since July 2010, with no result. I'll chase this, but as I said at the meeting, any mention of the D word will leave her utterly devastated. The last thing we need is a letter coming to her with anything like 'dementia care specialist' written on it.... need to tread carefully.

Did meet one psychoanalyst last year who was insistent that he would tell her she had vascular dementia, that she had a right to be told, regardless of how I think she'll take it, and that it wasn't that bad. WTF?????
I asked if he would put support in place before breaking this news to her. No, he explained, that wasn't what they did there. They don't do support. You need to look to charities for that, really. Bastard.

Didn't take her back to another appointment with him. Got her moved to a lovely female doc, so gentle with her, she loved going. But after the memory testing and final analysis, these appointments came to an end. There does seem to have been a system of 'diagnose, tick a box, then show them the door', which they say this new unit is meant to change....