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• In August 2007 my local NHS advertised for 'primary care mental health workers'. The job required undergoing training to complete a postgraduate certificate in Primary Care Mental Health Practice. I had been waiting a long time for the NHS in Cumbria to catch up with the rest of the country and start advertising, and this was my chance to finally get a counselling job within the NHS. I had gained my diploma in personcentred counselling in 2004, done a large part of my placement within a primary care setting and, whilst awaiting the opportunity of a job, had set up in private practice.
  I applied for the job but didn't even get an interview.

  I decided to ring the local NHS recruitment line to ascertain what I had to do to qualify for one of these jobs in the future. Could I perhaps fund myself to go on the training course and get the certificate they required? In that conversation I was informed that the jobs were not 'counselling' jobs; that I probably didn't get an interview because I was over-qualified, and that the equivalent jobs for my qualifications would probably be created within the next two years. I was told I couldn't do their course privately as it was for NHS employees only and the training was also towards achieving a CBT certificate. I was advised to get the CBT training and certificate elsewhere and try again the next time they advertised. I financed myself, completed the CBT training course at our local university and gained the CBT certificate.

  Roll forward to August 2008. My local NHS advertised for 'low intensity mental health workers'. I rang up the same local NHS recruitment person, reminded her of our conversation a year ago, and informed her that I now held a CBT certificate. I told her I realised that I was probably over qualified for the jobs advertised and enquired about when they would be advertising for 'high intensity mental health workers'. The reply came that there had been three such vacancies and that these had been advertised internally and filled.

  The conversation went decidedly downhill after I enquired whether the successful applicants had the requisite qualifications for the posts, or were the NHS going to provide them with the training necessary for the job? Oh well, I'll carry on with my private practice and hope that things pick up, although it's with not a hope of having enough client hours to achieve accreditation. It's not nice, this feeling of being sidelined and kept on the 'outside'. It seems such a shame that there are so many suitably qualified and professional counsellors out there for whom, so far at any rate, neither the government nor the NHS have given due and proper consideration. So there you have it, another tale of woe to add to the many others. Is anyone listening?