Advice

Hi @Sammy4 and welcome to the forums

What a hard position to be put in! This practitioner leaving you without warning or explanation, or without refilling your prescription while you search for a new practitioner its really irresponsible. I believe the governing body is RANZCP, you can provide the with feedback about this incident here, and search for another psychiatrist using their psychiatrist search tool. You may also contact AHPRA to express your concerns.

In terms of getting in to see another psychiatrist, does the clinic have other psychiatrists? If so I'd be contacting them to request being seen while you sort out another (more reliable) option. You could also speak to your GP and see if they are aware of any psychiatrists with shorter waiting lists. Lastly, you may be able to look into engaging a psychiatrist online to see if that would be suitable for another short-term solution for you. Often online practitioners have shorter wait times, but they're not suitable for everyone.

I hope something in here is helpful, sorry again that you've been put in this situation

Thankyou so much i appreciate it, im shocked im hoping he will miraculously reappear and at least give me time to find a replacement.

Thanks again

G'day Sammy,

If it's a regular medication (anti-depressant, anti-psychotic etc),

1. Get a GP appointment explain your situation, they will usually prescribe you medication that has first been prescribed by a psychiatrist, is a regular medication and shouldn't be stopped abruptly (alot of psych meds).

2. For a fee, usually around fifty dollars, there are GP's that are purely over the phone, that again are almost obliged to prescribe a one off because of the nature of again, abruptly stopping alot of psych medication.

3. In a pinch, ask the last pharmacist who dispensed your medication to use their discretion and refill your script until you get a current one. Pharmacists know how important psych medication is to well being and the consequences of missing doses. It's almost a duty of care that they supply you with a medication that is only prescribed as a regular medication, unlike antibiotics or short term medication.

4. Last resort would be E.D. They pretty much have to see you, but you may need to be creative with the triage nurse because they don't train em' like they use to. I can tell you that a risk with abruply stopping something like an SSRI, anti-depressant, though very rare can be seizures, so if you go to the counter and tell them that without your SSRI (insert your medication here) you could have a seizure... Catch my drift?

All the best and God bless.

I am sorry you have experienced this first hand @Sammy4. Sounds like a breach of duty of care to me and plain unprofessional. Try not to take their lack personally, though it makes sense you are shocked.

@SillySausage gave good advice…. Not such a silly sausage after all… lol…hello from Apple

…don’t worry too much as Gps can usually step into the breach though there are legal limits in their prescribing certain meds. Worse case scenario, temporary titration with a Gp for guidance til new psychiatrist session.

There has recently been a big shortage of a medication that many people have been on for long periods.

I hope your personal situation becomes resolved soon.

Thanks i didnt know that, i had a appointment with my gp yesterday and he has arranged a phone consult with another psychiatrist and his flagged at urgent they've already contacted me by email so hopefully I will hear from them in the next week. I would love to report this psychiatrist I'm looking into how I can do that because this is duty of care and other than him dying I can't think of any other excuse why he would abandon his patients.