Mental Health Services on the NHS
There has been a massive increase in people seeking treatment for mental health issues and the NHS has responded by offering services. This includes:
The Long Term Plan has made a renewed commitment to grow the amount of money spent on mental health services more quickly than the NHS budget in general. This includes the work of a specialist in suicide prevention.
Get help
One of four people will suffer from mental illness at some time in their lives. The good news is there are many avenues to seek help, and many of us will recover with time. However, it is important to know what assistance is available and who is able to provide it.
You can seek help from a variety of places such as your doctor (primary care medical doctor) or your local health centre, or a community mental health team. These teams are comprised of occupational therapists, nurses psychotherapists, psychotherapists, and speech and language therapists who work with the people who utilize the service. You may receive individual or group therapy, based on the kind of help you need.
Your GP will typically require you to fill out a form so that they can send you a referral to a local mental health team. They will also ask you to specify what you require in terms of support. You will be consulted by members of the mental team, such as psychiatrist, psychologist or social worker. In certain instances, a clinical nurse specialist will perform your assessment and treatment. You can call the NHS 111 helpline for assistance if you're in a crisis. If you're already supported by mental health services it's a good idea try and contact your usual team first, unless it's out of normal hours, on a weekend or a bank holiday.
The Five Year Forward View for Mental Health detailed plans to establish multidisciplinary, community-based mental health teams that are connected to primary care networks. These teams will increase the quality of the care delivered to people experiencing a crisis, and provide support to patients in their own homes and communities instead of in hospitals.
The plan also aimed to help make crisis services more accessible by reducing waiting times and opening more beds. It also proposes a mental transport vehicle and ensure that all ambulances are equipped with a mental liaison nurse within the control room to improve how those who are experiencing mental distress are assisted in emergency situations.
Treatment options
The NHS offers a wide array of treatment options for people suffering from mental health problems. Less severe disorders are often treated by GPs however more serious disorders require specialists. These teams operate in community and primary healthcare facilities, as well psychiatric hospital. You can also seek help in a secure environment if you feel in crisis.
Talking treatments for anxiety and depression are among the most popular kinds of treatment. Previously referred to as IAPT These programs have seen the number of people who seek them increase each year since they were introduced in 2008. The NHS Long Term Plan has committed to expanding these services to 1.9 million people by 2023/2024.
Psychiatric medicines are also a vital component of treatment. They can improve symptoms through changing the way chemicals work in your brain. They can be used to lessen the negative effects of other treatments. Your doctor will prescribe the appropriate medicine for you.
A wide variety of talking therapy options are offered including group therapy and individual therapy. Some of them are offered in person, whereas others are available remotely. Some patients prefer face-to face treatment, but it is the choice of the patient. There are also a lot of charities that provide support groups and classes, such as Mind. Their website contains a wealth of information that is reliable, however you must be aware that there is lots of false or misleading information on the internet about mental health issues.
The NHS is working to improve the mental health system, but it's struggling to meet demand. In the UK, there are 54 mental trusts. The majority of them receive funding for their services from the clinical commissioning group. They are usually located in a specific area however they can also be commissioned to offer national services.
One of the main issues is the insufficient resources to meet rising demand. There are also concerns about the quality of care and the shortage of nurses and psychiatrists. full mental health assessment is striving to improve its services by introducing new methods of working and offering more training. Read the Full Post introduces more secure and efficient methods to treat people in crisis including mobile crisis teams and safe areas.
Helping you
Since the NHS launched 70 years ago, there have been many positive developments for people suffering from mental health issues. The treatment options have gotten better and social barriers have been taken down. But there's still a lot to do.
Patients who are experiencing mental health problems need to be able to access the help they require quickly and easily. The NHS is working to improve services to ensure that those who need them can get assistance. By 2020/21 we will ensure that all acute hospitals have a mental health liaison service that is available in A&E and on wards for inpatients and that 70% of these will meet the standard of 24 by 2023/24. We will then work towards 100 percent coverage.
We will also extend services for those who require them in the community, including psychotherapy, in order to provide hundreds of thousands of people suffering from severe or common mental health conditions the support they require. We will continue to develop our national Improving Access to Psychological Therapies program (IAPT) to ensure that more people suffering from mental health issues are seen faster by trained therapists.
The NHS offers confidential, no-cost helplines to those suffering from mental health issues. Samaritans Mind and Rethink are some of the helplines available. These helplines are run by trained volunteers and provide an environment where you can talk in a safe manner or provide advice and information on how to tackle your mental health concerns.
There are also local organisations that can provide assistance and support to those suffering from mental health issues. Self-help guides, coping techniques and other activities are available. Many of these organisations provide support groups in person for those who prefer it.
The University's Open Door Team offers a drop-in counseling service for students who are experiencing stress or depression. There's also the Nightline student counselling service which offers confidential listening and support from knowledgeable volunteers, or details on other services. Charities such as Mind and Rethink can provide an abundance of information and support, both on the internet and in local groups. They can also offer a variety of classes and activities, ranging from mindfulness to art groups which can be helpful for those living with mental health problems.
Referrals
Mental health services are under pressure and GPs have to make difficult choices regarding which specialist services they should refer their patients to. The GP will take a patient's medical history into account and then recommend them to a service they think could be able to assist. They can send a referral to an NHS trust, or an independent provider.
A mental health professional will assess the referral to determine if it's appropriate or not. If the specialist isn't happy with the referral, they'll contact the GP to discuss their decision and provide why. They could request the GP to alter the referral or ask for more information.
Referrals to the local Community Mental Health Team can be made using the NHS e-Referral Service. The system allows doctors and other healthcare professionals refer patients to either a preliminary assessment service for mental health or directly to an appointment. Not all CMHTs provide both options, and the system can't be used for all types of mental health referrals.
A GP can refer a patient to a mental health specialist in the community service (CMT). They are typically run by an enormous hospital or a local healthcare organization. CMTs can be a good option for those who want to consult a qualified psychologist or psychiatrist but don't require inpatient care. They can also provide an early intervention service, where a psychiatrist collaborates with an therapist to help a person overcome a problem or improve their life quality.
One of the major challenges that a CMT is how to ensure that all appropriate referrals are made within an appropriate time frame. One of the issues is that a lot of referrals are deemed as urgent, even though they might not be. This can lead to delays and over-working for people who are not in crisis.
To combat this problem, a few CMHTs have tried to establish more uniform standards for what constitutes a referral urgent. This was achieved by using an established form that asks the referrer if the case is urgent. The proforma includes a box for the referrer to tick if they feel the referral is urgent.