Mental Health Services on the NHS
The NHS has responded to the rise in mental health problems by offering services. This includes:
The Long Term Plan reaffirmed its commitment to boost investment in mental health services more quickly than overall NHS budget. This includes specialist work in suicide prevention.
Need help?
One out of four people will be affected by mental illness at one point during their lives. The good news is that there are a variety of different ways to seek help, and most people recover after a while. However, it is important to know what assistance is available and who can provide it.
You can seek assistance from a variety places, including your GP (primary medical doctor who treats patients) or your local health centre, or a community mental health team. These teams consist of nurses, occupational therapists psychotherapists, psychotherapists, and speech and language therapists who collaborate with people who use the service. You can get individual or group therapy, based on the type of assistance you require.
Your GP will typically require you to fill out the form to 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 an interdisciplinary team of mental health professionals, such as a psychologist, psychiatrist or social worker. In certain instances a clinical nurse specialist will carry out your assessment and treatment. If you are experiencing an emergency, you can contact the NHS 111 helpline for urgent support. If you're already being supported by mental health services, it's a good idea to contact your regular team first, unless it's out of the normal hours, a weekend or a bank holiday.
The Five Year Forward View for Mental Health outlined plans to create more multidisciplinary, place-based community mental health teams, with connections to primary care networks. These will help to improve the quality of care provided to those suffering from an illness of mental health and offer support within their communities and homes rather than in hospitals.
The plan also aimed to provide crisis services to more people by reducing waiting times and allowing more beds. It also proposed to introduce mental health transport vehicles, and ensure that all ambulances have an official who is a mental health liaison in their control rooms to improve the way that those suffering from a mental health crisis are helped in times of crisis.
Treatment options
The NHS provides a variety of treatment options for mental health issues. GPs typically have the ability to treat minor disorders, but more serious issues will require the assistance of a specialist team. These teams are located in community and primary mental healthcare services, as well psychiatric hospital. You can also seek assistance in a secure environment should you be in a state of crisis.
Talking therapies for depression and anxiety are among the main types of treatment. These programs, previously known as IAPT (Interactive Assessment and Psychotherapy), have seen their referral numbers increase each year since they first introduced in 2008. The NHS Long Term Plan commits to expanding these programs so that 1.9 million people will be able to use them in 2023/2024.
Psychiatric drugs are a different part of treatment. mental assessment near me can help alleviate symptoms by altering how the brain's chemicals function. They can also be used to alleviate the side effects of other treatments. Your doctor will suggest the best medication for you.
There are many kinds of talk therapy, including individual therapy and group therapy. Some of them are offered in person, but others can be delivered remotely. Some patients prefer face-to-face treatment, but it's the choice of the patient. Mind is one of many charities that provide support groups and classes. The website contains a wealth of information that is trustworthy, but be aware that there are a lot of false or misleading claims on the internet concerning mental health issues.
While the NHS is working to improve its mental health services however, it is still struggling to meet the demands. In the UK there are 54 mental trusts. They receive the majority of funding from the clinical commissioning groups. They are usually located in a specific region however, they can also be contracted to provide national services.
The lack of resources is a major issue. There are concerns over the quality and shortage of psychiatrists and nurses. The NHS is trying to improve the quality of care by introducing new methods of work and providing more training. It also introduces more secure and efficient methods to help people in crisis, such as mobile crisis teams and secure areas.
Supporting you
Since the NHS was launched 70 years ago there are positive changes for those suffering from mental health issues. The options for treatment have grown and social barriers have been smashed down. But there is much more to be done.
People experiencing mental health issues need to be able to get the help they require quickly and easily. That's why the NHS is putting in the effort to improve the quality of services for those who require them. By 2020/21, we will make sure that all acute hospitals have a mental health liaison service both in A&E and on wards for inpatients, and that 70% of them will meet the core 24 standard by 2023/24. We will then work towards 100 percent coverage.
We will also extend services for people who need them in the community, such as psychotherapy, in order to provide hundreds of thousands of people suffering from severe or common mental health issues the help they need. We will continue to develop our national Improving Access to Psychological Therapies program (IAPT) in order to ensure that more people with mental health problems can be seen quicker by therapists who are qualified.
The NHS provides confidential, free assistance to anyone suffering from mental health issues. Samaritans Mind and Rethink are some of the helplines available. These helplines are run by volunteers who offer an environment where you can talk to someone in a safe manner or offer advice and guidance about how to handle your mental health issues.
Additionally to that, there are a lot of local organisations which can provide support and guidance to those with mental health issues. They can provide self-help guides, strategies for coping and activities to try. Many of these organisations offer support groups that meet face-to-face to those who would prefer it.
For students, there's the University's Open Door Team which offers an opportunity to consult with a counsellor at any time for those who feel depressed or stressed. There's also the Nightline student counselling service that offers confidential listening and support from skilled volunteers, or information on other services. Charities like Mind and Rethink are a great source of information and can offer support in many forms that include online and through local groups. They can provide a variety of courses and activities from mindfulness to art classes, which are useful for people with mental health issues.
Making a referral
With mental health services under pressure, GPs have to make difficult choices about what specialist services they should refer patients to. The doctor will take the patient's medical history into consideration and then refer them to a specialist they believe could be able to assist. They can send a referral to an NHS trust or an independent provider.
A mental health specialist will examine the referral to determine if it is appropriate or not. If the specialist isn't pleased with the referral, they'll call the GP to discuss their decision and provide why. They may also ask the GP to provide more information or to alter the referral.
Referrals to a local Community Mental Health Team (CMHT) may be made via the NHS e-Referral Service (e-RS). The system lets doctors and other healthcare professionals refer patients to either a preliminary clinical assessment for mental health or directly to an appointment. Not all CMHTs offer both options, and the system can't be used for all kinds of mental health referrals.
A doctor may also refer patients to a community mental health specialist service (CMT). These are usually run by a large local healthcare organisation or a hospital. CMTs are a great option for those who have to consult a psychologist or psychiatrist, but do not require inpatient treatment. They can also offer an early intervention service where psychiatrists collaborate with therapy therapist to assist a person overcome any crisis or improve the quality of their life.
CMTs face the challenge of ensuring that all referrals are made within a reasonable amount of time. One of the problems is that a lot of referrals are considered urgent, even though they might not be. This can lead people who aren't in crisis to be overwhelmed and suffer delays.
To tackle this issue, some 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 situation is urgent. The form has a checkbox that the referrer can tick if the referral is urgent.