Mental Health Services on the NHS
There has been a massive rise in people seeking help for mental health issues and the NHS has responded by providing services. This includes:
The Long Term Plan reaffirmed its commitment to boost investment in mental healthcare services faster than overall NHS budget. This includes specialist suicide prevention work.
Get assistance
One in four of us will experience a mental health problem at some time in our lives. The good news is that there are many ways to get help, and most of us will recover over time. It's important to understand what help is available and who can provide it.
You can seek help from a variety of places, including your doctor (primary care medical doctor) as well as your local health centre, or a community mental health team. These teams consist of occupational therapists, nurses psychotherapists, psychotherapists, and speech and language therapists who work with people who use the service. Based on the kind of help you require you could receive individual or group therapy.
Your doctor will typically ask you to fill in the form to make a referral to a local mental health team. They will also talk to you about what kind of assistance you require. You will be consulted by an individual from an interdisciplinary team of mental health professionals, such as psychiatrist, psychologist or social worker. In some instances the clinical nurse specialist will carry out your assessment and treatment. If mental health assessment test experiencing an emergency, you can contact the NHS 111 helpline for immediate support. If you are already receiving mental health support it is recommended to contact your primary team first, unless it is outside of hours, or on a weekend or a bank holiday.
The Five Year Forward View for Mental Health detailed plans to establish multidisciplinary team of mental health professionals in the community which are connected to primary care networks. These teams will enhance the quality of the care delivered to people experiencing a crisis, and offer support to them in their own homes and communities rather than in hospitals.
The plan also aimed at help make crisis services more accessible by reducing wait times and allowing more beds. It would also introduce an ambulance for mental health and ensure that all ambulances are stocked with a mental liaison nurse within the control room to make sure that people experiencing a mental crisis are assisted in emergency situations.
Treatment options
The NHS provides a wide range of treatment options for people suffering from mental health problems. Disorders that are less severe are usually treated by GPs, while more serious conditions require specialists. These teams are spread across community and primary mental health services, as well as mental health hospitals. There are also safe places where you can seek assistance when you're in a crisis.
Talking therapies are among the most commonly used forms of treatment for anxiety and depression. These programs, formerly known as IAPT (Interactive Assessment and Psychotherapy) have seen their number of referrals increase each year since they were first introduced in 2008. The NHS Long Term Plan commits to expanding these services so that 1.9 million people can access them by 2023/2024.
Psychiatric medications are another crucial aspect of treatment. They can help alleviate symptoms by altering the way chemicals in your brain work. They can also be used to ease side effects of other treatments. Your doctor will prescribe the appropriate medication for you.
There are a variety of talk therapy, including group therapy and individual therapy. Some of them are offered in person, whereas others can be done online. Some patients prefer face to face treatment, but it is an individual choice. Mind is one of many charities that provide support groups and classes. Their website is full of reliable information, but you must be aware of the fact that there's lots of inaccurate or misleading information on the internet about mental health issues.
The NHS is improving the quality of mental health care, but it's struggling to meet the demand. In the UK there are 54 mental trusts. Most of them receive funding for their services from the clinical commissioning group. They are typically located in a specific area however, they are also able to be commissioned to provide national services.
A key issue is the lack of resources to meet rising demand. There are also concerns over the quality of care, and a shortage of psychiatrists and nurses. The NHS is working to improve the quality of care by offering more training and introducing new ways of working. It also provides more secure and efficient methods to treat those who are in crisis. This includes mobile crisis teams, as well as safe spaces.
We are here to help you
Since the NHS was established 70 years ago, there have been positive developments for people suffering from mental health issues. The treatment options have increased and social barriers have been taken down. But there is more to be done.
Patients who are experiencing mental health problems need to be able to get the help they require quickly and easily. That's why the NHS is striving to improve the services available to those who require them. We will ensure that every acute hospital is without the mental health liaison service in A&E departments and inpatient wards by 2020/21. We will also ensure that 70% of these services will meet the "core 24" standard by 2023/24, working towards 100% coverage thereafter.
We will also increase community services, including talking therapy, to offer support for hundreds of thousands of individuals suffering from mental health issues, whether they are common or severe. We will continue to work on the national Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme so that more people can be treated by trained therapists faster.
The NHS provides free, confidential helplines for anyone suffering from mental health issues. These include the Samaritans and Mind and Rethink. These helplines are operated entirely by volunteers who provide a safe place to talk or offer advice and guidance on how to manage your mental health issues.
Additionally, there are a number of local organizations that can provide support and guidance to people with mental health problems. Self-help guides, coping methods and activities can be included. Many of these organizations offer face-toface support groups to those who would prefer it.
For students, there is the University's Open Door Team which offers an opportunity to consult with a counsellor at any time for those feeling down or stressed. There's also the Nightline student counselling service, which offers confidential listening and support from knowledgeable volunteers, or details about other services. Charities like Mind and Rethink are a great source of information and provide support in a variety of ways such as online and through local groups. They offer a variety of courses and activities from mindfulness to art classes that are useful for people with mental health issues.
Making a referral
Mental health services are under pressure and GPs are forced to make difficult decisions about which specialist services to refer their patients to. The doctor will take the patient's medical history into account and then recommend them to a service they believe will be able to help. They may send a referral to an NHS trust or an independent provider.
A mental health specialist will then evaluate the referral and decide if it's appropriate or not. If Our Site doesn't like the referral, they'll contact the GP and explain their reasons. They might also ask the GP to change the referral or ask for more information.
The ability to refer patients to the local Community Mental Health Team can be made through the NHS e-Referral Service. The system allows GPs as well as other health professionals to refer people to either a preliminary mental health clinical assessment or directly to an outpatient appointment. Not all CMHTs provide both options, and the system is not able to be used for all types of mental health referrals.
A doctor may also decide to refer a person to a specialized community mental health service (CMT). They are typically run by a large local healthcare organization or a hospital. CMTs are a great option for those who want to see an experienced psychiatrist or psychologist but don't need inpatient treatment. They can also provide an early intervention service where a psychiatrist collaborates with the counselor to help someone overcome a problem or improve their life quality.
CMTs have the responsibility of making sure that all referrals are received within a reasonable amount of time. Many referrals are considered urgent, even though they might not be. private ocd assessment can lead to delays and over-working for those who aren't in a crisis.
To address this issue certain CMHTs are working to establish more uniform guidelines for what is considered an urgent referral. This has been achieved by using the standardised referral forma that requires the referrer to consider whether the case is urgent. The proforma has a box that the referrer can tick to indicate if the referral is urgent.