I had been deeply disturbed by Sean Dale Malloy’s revelation. It seemed obvious to me that he had overstepped, had disclosed facts that were probably meant to have been kept secret and this just added to my festering distrust. There was an overwhelming sense that I was being managed behind the scenes, being lied to, that I was the subject of a very real conspiracy.

A quick Google search reminds us that a ‘conspiracy’ is usually defined as a secret plan or agreement between people for unlawful or harmful purposes while keeping their agreement secret from another person or group affected by it. Conspiracy refers to a group of people united in the goal of subverting established power structures or profiteering said power structures. A conspiracy may also be a crime, a civil or ethical wrong or even an breach of trust. The term generally connotes, or implies, wrongdoing or illegality on the part of the conspirators, as it is commonly believed that people would not need to conspire to engage in activities that were lawful and ethical, or to which no one would object. 

Without evidence a conspiracy just becomes a theory, an explanation for an event or situation that asserts the existence of a conspiracy when there are other more plausible explanations. Some researchers suggest that ‘conspiracist ideation’ may be psychologically harmful or pathological.  Such belief is correlated with paranoia. 

Paranoia is an instinct or thought process that is believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety, suspicion or fear, usually to the point of delusion. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory or conspiracy beliefs such as unjustified suspicion and mistrust of other people or their actions or unwarranted or delusional beliefs that one is being persecuted, harassed, or betrayed by others, occurring as part of a mental condition.

A casual mental health assessment might have concluded that I was suffering from  paranoia. Indeed, one incompetent psychotherapist who later assessed me at CMHT The Bridge Centre did posit such a diagnosis. As it turned out, a very real conspiracy HAD been organized against me. I just didn’t have the hard, irrefutable evidence at my disposal. Not yet.

What I did have was a Gordian Knot of doubt, distrust and unanswered questions. I collated those questions and used them as the basis for a formal complaint which I presented to CMHT The Bridge Centre. I was, eventually, invited to attend a meeting.

From: Long, Vicky [mailto:********************************]Sent: 18 May 2022 07:45To: ********************Subject: Confirmation of Fridays MeetingImportance: High

Dear Mark,

I am very aware that I have not been able to send a letter to confirm our meeting on Friday since we spoke at the end of last week.  My apologies for this however as an alternative and having some understanding of the mistrust you feel towards Southern Health, I thought it would be helpful if I emailed you instead to confirm our meeting.

We are meeting at 2 pm here at the Bridge Centre on Friday 20th May with myself, Wanda Reynolds – General Manager for CAMHS and Dr Natalie Roberts, Clinical psychologist for CAMHS. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss your concerns around the care you have received from both services and to see if we are able to resolve this for you. Alongside of this, you have also informed me that you would like to raise a formal complaint and independent investigation and I have advised the Patient Complaints Team of this.

I look forward to meeting you on Friday.

Kind Regards

Vicky Long

Just prior to the scheduled meeting with Vicky Long and Wanda Reynolds on the 20th May, 2022, I was in communication with Katie Rees, head of Information Goverance and Health Records at the Sussex Partnership.

Sent: 19 May 2022 14:54To: REES, Katie (SPFT) ************************Subject: RE: Subject Access Request REF: *************

Hi Katie, 

I have just received an automatic reply to my last email to you and note that you will be unavailable until after 5pm today.

You may recall from our telephone conversation earlier this week that I have a scheduled meeting with representatives of Camhs, Basingstoke and The Bridge Centre tomorrow afternoon at 2.30pm to try and resolve serious complaints I have. I will be going into that meeting effectively blind on a number of important points because I do not have access to medical records relating to my ‘art therapy’ work with Sally Mungall between the beginning of September 2021 and 16th December, 2021 and ALL other documents, letters etc throughout that time period AND beyond the ‘art therapy’ ( after 16th Dec 2021 ) including correspondence between Sally Mungall and The Bridge Centre during the ‘handing over period’ and ALL records up until the ‘closing letter’ ( ref ***** ) date 8th March 2022am.

 To reiterate my daughter’s point of contact is email ****************

In the meantime would you at least be able to tell me if

1)      Medical records, as detailed above, even exist? Are you able to access either mine or my daughters medical records and confirm that the above details relating to me are even on either my records OR my daughters records? I don’t expect to get access to those records before tomorrow’s meeting but it would help me immeasurably to know that my records exist and that my 11 to 12 sessions were properly summerised with session notes and collated and filed accordingly. Also, is there evidence of correspondence between Sally Mungall and Kirsty Henry or others at The Bridge Centre relating to MY ‘handing over period’?

2)      OR are all my medical records relating to Camhs completely bundled with my daughter’s records? 

If there are no medical records relating to my ‘art therapy’ work with Sally Mungall between the beginning of September 2021 and 16th December, 2021 and ALL other documents, letters etc throughout that time period AND beyond the ‘art therapy’ ( after 16th Dec 2021 ) including correspondence between Sally Mungall and The Bridge Centre during the ‘handing over period’ and ALL records up until the ‘closing letter’ ( ref ***** ) date 8th March 2022am then I need to know as soon as possible, preferably by lunchtime tomorrow. I don’t necessarily need to know details at this stage but it is REALLY important that I know that those records actually exist or not before my meeting tomorrow at 2.30pm.

Thank you, Katie.

Kind regards

Mark

From: REES, Katie (SPFT) *******************************Sent: 20 May 2022 11:13To: Mark StockSubject: RE: Subject Access Request REF: *************

Hi Mark,

Good news. I have spoke with Wanda who has printed off the notes you have requested and is bringing them with her to your meeting this afternoon.

Many thanks for your patience,

Katie Rees CISMP

Head of Information Governance & Health Records

Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

I attended the meeting with Vicky Long and Wanda Reynolds on the 20th May, 2022. It was alleged that Dr Natalie Roberts had other work commitments and did not attend. I am tempted to say that I took Vicky Long and Wanda Reynolds at face value , that I believed what they were telling me was true and that they had my best interests at heart. But both Vicky Long and Wanda Reynolds had elected to wear face masks because of the continued fallout from Covid 19. I referred to the use of facemasks back in my blog entry ’FOUR AND TWENTY DEAD CROWS # 2 ‘Meeting art therapist, Sally Mungall, for the first time.’

‘First, by making the mouth invisible, facemasks potentially inhibit the capability to perceive a lot of social information of the utmost relevance for everyday interactions across several social contexts. To begin with, the mask can interfere with the recognition of its bearer’s emotional state. Moreover, since affective displays are also thought to affect first impressions of trustworthiness, facemasks may also alter the perceived trustworthiness of unknown mask-bearers.’ - https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-84806-5

The truth was that neither Vicky Long nor Wanda Reynolds were to be trusted. I later surmised that Wanda Reynolds had her own agenda and had likely co-opted Vicky Long. Neither had my best interests at heart. My interests as a patient and vulnerable adult were secondary.

I handed over physical copies of my formal complaint document and spent the better part of the hour going through the questions that I had collated. The following is a part of that document.

‘Dear Sir/Madam

I am writing to make a formal complaint against Cahms, Bramblys Drive , Basingstoke and The Bridge Centre, Basingstoke.

------------------------------

I am complaining about Cahms and The Bridge Centre with emphasis on events that transpired between 16th December, 2021 and yesterday, 11th May, 2022. These events have left me traumatised and at risk. My current status is between one failed suicide attempt and the next suicide attempt.

The formal complaint highlights the failings of both Camhs and The Bridge Centre to properly tend to my mental wellbeing and properly recognise my extreme emotional distress throughout an unnecessarily protracted transition from one healthcare provider to the next. My complaint identifies dereliction of duty of care on behalf of both parties. I go into detail to explain the circumstances that have contributed to my perception that I have been betrayed, lied to, manipulated and managed behind my back. Mental health caretaking has been absent, appointments overlooked, reports not followed up in a timely manner, professional working practice inconsistent and staff attitudes bordering, at worst, on contempt. The experience has devastated me and undermined my confidence in the mental health service. I have been traumatised and re traumatised. I believe irrevocable damage has been done and that I will never fully trust another mental health provider again.

I will give a detailed account of events and what follows is a lengthy document with letters supplied as separate attachments

Contents are as follows MY DAUGHTER’S ADMISSION INTO CAMHS

MY ART THERAPY WITH SALLY MUNGALL

A CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS AFTER 16TH DECEMBER, 2021

COMPLEX-PTSD

LIST OF CRITICISMS AND POINTS I WOULD LIKE ADDRESSED

CONCLUSION

WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO HAPPEN

------------------------------

These are 23 questions I need addressing;

1) Was Sally suitably experienced to deal with ‘transference’ within the therapeutic relationship and was she trained to recognise abandonment wounds and attachment issues in adults and properly caretake her adult patients?

2) Whose decision was it to unilaterally terminate me? Was it Sally’s decision to ‘cut me off’? or was she persuaded or her original decision overruled by her superiors?

3) Why was my meeting with Sally on the 3rd feb really cancelled? And why at such short notice?

4) Why did I have to wait patiently and politely for almost 6 weeks without a follow up call regarding the missed 3rd of Feb meeting? Even basic common courtesy demands a polite explanation.

5) Why was a new appointment to meet to review the art therapy drawings not made before closing letter antedated 8th of March? That’s almost six weeks missed opportunity to do the right thing.

6) Why was my daughter’s case closed before my case was closed? We were not separate entities. My art therapy was conducted in conjunction with my daughter’s therapy. My objective was to gain insight into my parenting of my daughter. One case should not have been closed until both were ready to be closed.

7) Did Sally want to change her mind or want to reassert her original decision to meet with me while Wanda Reynolds was investigating? A letter ( written, dated and received by me on 23rd February ) by Wanda Reynolds included ‘ I have spoken with Sally and she is now aware that this cannot be facilitated.’ Such wording seems to suggest there was an attempt at reconciliation by Sally.

8) Why have I not been informed of all information relevant to me? For example, I still haven’t been updated as to the details of the ‘professionals meeting’ recommended in Kirsty Henry’s report dated 16th February, 2022.

9) What other information has been either withheld from me or not forwarded due to incompetence? ( I need full and immediate disclosure following both my Access to Records requests. )

10) Why is it that I still have not been offered ‘carers support’? Sally said that she would ask for ‘carers support’ for me back in December 2021. Kirsty Henry recommended ‘carers support’ in her report dated 16th February, 2022.

11) Why did Kirsty Henry not respond to my letter hand-delivered to reception at The Bridge Centre between 24th Feb and 14th Mar?

12) Why was complex-ptsd or autism not identified in either of my mental health assessments?

13) Why is it that I have two different lists of recommendations following my two separate mental health assessment made by The Bridge Centre?

14) Why should I trust either mental health assessment when the recommendations are so different? I presented exactly the same way in both sessions. I was equally emotional in both and spoke of my suicide plans in both.

15) Why am I being denied immediate access to my medical health records at Camhs? I made an Access of Records request and was informed that a full three month deadline would be required. Is it not reasonable to expect that my case being closed, apparently, on the 8th Mar 2022, my session notes, letters and full records should have already been conscientiously collated and filed?

16) Why has it been necessary for my GP, Dr Dougan to continually and persistently chase up The Bridge Centre, ITalk and Social Services? Dr Dougan and the mental health nurse at Bramblys Grange Medical Practice have been the only consistently positive force for good throughout this debacle.

17) Is Laura Jones either an approved clinician or a responsible clinician? If she is designated as either then she has, surely, been trained to handle patients with suicidal ideation in accordance with the recommendations laid out in the ‘suicide prevention strategy’ found in https://qi.sussexpartnership.nhs.uk/documents/four-trust-priorities/priority-4-suicide-prevention/43-suicide-prevention-strategy/file

18) I recounted my telephone conversation with Laura Jones of the 4th May in a conversation with Sean Dale-Malloy later that afternoon and was informed by him was told by that such staff were not trained to deal with suicide talk from distressed patients. Was he wrong?

19) Will Laura Jones be disciplined? She has been rude and contemptuous throughout my experience. My daughter has also been assessed by Laura Jones and felt intimidated by her attitude.

20) My daughter and I are both still awaiting reports of our assessments. Where are they? My daughter’s assessment was held on the 20th April. Laura Jones told my daughter to expect her report promptly. I was told by Laura Jones to expect telephone feedback by Fri 29th April, 3rd of May absolute latest on my assessment. Kirsty, the mental health nurse at my GP’s surgery made a scheduled welfare telephone call on Tues afternoon. She recorded a desperate, suicidal telephone conversation with me and asked my permission to play it to Laura Jones to persuade her to call me. Laura Jones called the following day. Why can’t Laura Jones follow through on her promises?

21) Will I have access to the document seen by Sean Dell-Malloy that details the unilateral decision made between Kirsty Henry and Sally to ‘cut me off’ from Sally?

22) Was Wanda Reynolds privy to the decision made to ‘cut me off’ from Sally before ruling that I would not be able to the meeting due to the technicality that my daughters case had been closed and so my request could not be honoured? It is disingenuous to deny me what was promised reason citing that my daughters case was closed when the truth appears to be that Sally never intended to honour her promise in the first place.

23) Why is it that my mental health was allowed to deteriorate to the point where I felt my only option was, and still is, suicide? Why are members of staff, like Laura Jones, allowed to work in front line patient care, making mental health assessments and managing patient in personal interactions with such appalling attitudes?

------------------------------

I believe that both Camhs and The Bridge Centre will be better healthcare providers following a thorough investigation into my complaint.

Yours sincerely,

Mark Stock

12th May, 2022’

I spent the better part of the hour going over the questions that I had collated. At times I was extremely emotional.

On at least two separate occasions Wanda Reynolds responded to my distress with the words, ‘We have damaged you.’ I later requested that she put those words in writing but she has since told investigators that she has no recollection of using those same words. I have written to her many times since asking her ‘Do you acknowledge that you, CAMHS, have damaged me?’ She has never responded to that simple question. A ‘yes’ or a ‘no’ are equally damning.

Vicky Long then assured me that all my previous mental health assessments needed to be reevaluated. She told me that she would speak to colleagues within CMHT with a plan to refer me back to iTalk. Again.

Wanda Reynolds then handed over some of Sally Mungall’s art therapy session notes although she advised me not to read them. This was NOT the ‘Good news,’ alluded to by Katie Rees.  Katie had written ‘I have spoke with Wanda who has printed off the notes you have requested and is bringing them with her to your meeting this afternoon.’ These were not the complete collection of notes that I had requested. These were not even the complete set of Sally Mungall’s therapy session notes. I have never received the complete set of Sally Mungall’s therapy session notes. I believe this is because the withheld notes incriminate Sally Mungall. Wanda Reynolds was managing me and managing my access to information.

Fortunately, Wanda Reynolds only had influence over Information Governance within the Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.

On the 15th June, 2022, I gained access to a portion of my medical records held by Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust. Revelations contained in those records were truly shocking and marked my change of attitude from one of passive acceptance into assertive repudiation. The story of my investigation, the struggle to hold individuals and institutions to account and the extremes I went through in order to get the psychiatric help that both my daughter and I deserved will be told in the sequels, ‘A Murder of Conspirators’ and 'Just Caws'.