The Problem With a Waitlist

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Is when you call a client who has been on it for months, possibly a year or more and they have NO idea who you are or why you are calling them.  We do check in calls with people while they are waiting, but there is still so much confusion.

Amongst other issues.

Venting x2

*

Twice in the past few days I have called the hospital Mental Health Outpatient Clinic to get an update on my client's waitlist status. 

Twice I have been informed that the client is not even on the list!  They have no record of a referral. 

In one case this client's doctor told him he made the referral in October.  In the other, the client told me her doctor referred her last summer!  This client is brand new to me, so we're off to a busy start.

The outpatient clinic has a four month wait list.  They both should have been seen by now.  Now I am trying to help each sort out what happened.

GRRRRRR

*I do not endorse this method of stress relief.  If you are feeling upset, talk to your counsellor.  If you don't have a counsellor, call your local mental health services you might get one in a year or two.
In the meantime just try not to throw anything at anybody.

No Problem...

A client I recently started working with had been on our service wait-list for nine months. With such a long wait for support, it’s not uncommon that peoples illness or situation becomes worse between intake and initial service. That wait can be a very difficult time for many.

Before this person came in, I read the intake report. He seemed to have a lot of bad stuff going on, so when he came to meet me, I was surprised to see a very calm, well put together guy. Still, appearances can be deceiving, and I wouldn’t know more until I talked to him.

Through our initial conversation it came out that he is back living with his family (had previously been transient) is working a full time job that he enjoys, spends time with friends and has not had any psychotic symptoms in months. He also stopped taking all of his medications, and stopped seeing his psychiatrist.

After he left, the intake worker who had seen him last summer asked who he was, as she didn’t even recognize him. She asked me what had happened, and I told her what he had said to me:

“I stopped taking drugs. Even though I didn’t want to, I figured things would probably get better, and they did.”

Go figure.

If only it were always so simple…

The Wait

I’m still building up my caseload since I finished my Intake job. While doing intake, I supported nine people. Since February, I’ve had my numbers go as high as 16, but they now rest back at 14. It seems like every second person who get assigned to me has disappeared, or doesn’t want to engage in service beyond 1-2 visits. I guess it shouldn’t be surprising considering in most cases they’ve been sitting on a waitlist for over a year.

I really didn’t think it would take this long. I guess neither did they.

I wish

Me: The waitlist for case management is about 6 months to one year.  I'll call you by next week to let you know if you've been placed on the waitlist.

M. Eager: So I start next week?

Waitlists...

...are the bane of my existence. I hate the look on people's faces when I tell them it will be a year until they can get service.