3. Mr N complains a doctor at Livewell Southwest did not know who he was and refused his request to assign him to a different psychiatrist on 9 June 2022. He also complains Livewell Southwest discharged him from its services in September 2022.
4. Mr N says his anxiety and depression got worse and he lost confidence in NHS services.
5. Mr N would like Livewell Southwest to put him back under the care of mental health services and give him a new psychiatrist.
6. On 9 June 2022, Mr N had an appointment with the community mental health service. On 15 June, Livewell Southwest had a meeting about Mr N’s treatment. It sent a letter to Mr N offering an appointment on 22 June with a senior nurse. Mr N did not reply to this offer.
7. On 31 July, Livewell Southwest offered Mr N a new appointment for 16 August to review his circumstances and the care and treatment he may need. Mr N declined the appointment.
8. On 24 August, Livewell Southwest held another meeting about Mr N’s care and offered an appointment for 9 September. Mr N and his mother declined the appointment.
9. On 12 September, Mr N emailed Livewell Southwest to say he would not attend an appointment unless it gave him a new psychiatrist. On 13 September, Livewell Southwest discharged Mr N from its services.
Livewell Southwest did not give the correct care and treatment and discharged Mr N from its services
11. Mr N says the doctor he saw on 9 June 2022 seemed disinterested and ignorant to his case, asking questions they should already have known the answers to. He says he had explained to Livewell Southwest that he would not be attending any appointments until it gave him a new psychiatrist. He felt no further assessment was needed for this to happen. He says Livewell Southwest repeatedly refused to make a decision about his care unless he attended appointments.
12. Our Service Model Guidance (our policy) says: ‘there will be occasions when we decide that there are other reasons why we should not investigate a complaint made to us. This includes if the outcome sought is not achievable and that an investigation would not be practical as it would not reach a satisfactory conclusion’.
13. Livewell Southwest’s complaint response apologised if Mr N felt there was a lack of support and treatment. It explained the doctor was fully aware of Mr N’s case because they had met Mr N and his mother more than once and had discussed his care in meetings. It also explained the doctor had asked questions during the appointment to understand Mr N’s circumstances to make sure appropriate care and decisions were being given.
14. Livewell Southwest’s response also explained that, after the meeting on 15 June, it agreed a further needs assessment should be done to find the most appropriate course of action. It explained it offered a phone appointment with a senior nurse on 22 June 2022, which Mr N did not respond to.
15. The documents show Mr N declined a further appointment for 16 August to review his needs and said he would not attend until Livewell Southwest appointed a new psychiatrist.
16. Livewell Southwest’s response explained it held another meeting to discuss Mr N’s care on 24 August. It says it offered Mr N to engage with the service for a needs assessment on 9 September.
17. The documents show Mr N declined the appointment by email, and his mother also sent a message to say she would not attend.
18. Livewell Southwest explained it held another meeting on 7 September where it made the decision to discharge Mr N from the service because of the number of appointments he declined.
19. We can see Livewell Southwest offered a pathway for Mr N to potentially get the care he wanted. From what we have seen, Mr N did not want to follow the pathway.
20. We cannot get involved in a patient’s current and ongoing care, recommend care and treatment, or tell an organisation how they should provide ongoing or future treatment or assessments. This is because we do not make decisions about what treatment a person should or should not have.
21. For this reason, we would not be able to achieve what Mr N is looking for by doing an investigation. It would not be practical to investigate this further, because Mr N’s care and treatment would still need to be actioned through the correct channels such as Livewell Southwest or a GP practice. This is something that has already been offered by Livewell Southwest.
22. We recognise this was a difficult time for Mr N and hope our explanation gives some reassurance of the actions Livewell Southwest took to provide the care he wanted.
1. The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman has carefully considered Mr N’s complaint about Livewell Southwest Community Mental Health Services (Livewell Southwest). We are sorry to hear of Mr N’s concerns about the treatment he had and we recognise the impact Mr N says this had on his mental health.
2. We have decided not to consider the complaint further because we are unable to achieve the outcomes Mr N is looking for.