Mental Health Services on the NHS
The NHS has responded to the increase in mental health issues by providing services. This includes:
The Long Term Plan has made an unrepeatable commitment to increase investment in mental health services quicker than the NHS budget overall. This will include specialized work in suicide prevention.
Getting help
One of four of us will have a mental health problem at some time in our lives. The good news is there are many ways to get help, and many of us will be able to recover with time. However, it is important to know what assistance is available, and who is able to provide it.
You can get help from your GP or the local health center, or a mental health team within your local area. These teams comprise of occupational and nurse psychotherapists, as well as speech therapists. They work with the people who use their services. Based on the type of assistance you require you might be provided with individual or group therapy.
Your GP will typically require you to fill out a form to send you a referral to a community mental health team. They will also talk to you about the kind of assistance you require. You will then be examined by a member of a mental health team, which could include a psychiatrist, psychologist or social worker. In some cases, 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 to try and contact your usual team first, unless it's outside of core hours, the weekend or a bank holiday.
The Five Year Forward View for Mental Health detailed plans to establish multidisciplinary, community-based mental health teams which are connected to primary care networks. They will improve the quality of the care delivered to people who are experiencing an illness of mental health and offer support within their communities and homes rather than in hospitals.
The plan also aims to make emergency services available by reducing waiting times and opening more beds. It also proposes the introduction of 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 an illness of mental health are supported in emergency situations.
Treatment options
The NHS offers a variety of treatment options to treat mental health conditions. Disorders that are less severe are usually treated by GPs however more severe conditions require specialists. These teams operate across primary and community mental health services and also psychiatric hospitals. You can also seek assistance in a safe space when you are in a crisis.
Talking mental assessment for depression and anxiety are among the most popular treatments. These programs, previously known as IAPT (Interactive Assessment and Psychotherapy), have seen their referral numbers increase every year since they were launched in 2008. The NHS Long Term Plan has set the goal of expanding these services to 1.9 million people by 2023/2024.
Psychiatric medications are also a crucial part of treatment. They can alleviate symptoms by altering the way the brain's chemicals function. They can also help alleviate the side effects of other treatments. Your doctor will prescribe the best medication for you.
mental health check of talking therapy options are available, including group therapy and individual therapy. Some of these treatments are offered in person, while other can be done remotely. Some patients prefer face-to-face treatment, but it is the choice of the patient. There are also a number of charities that offer support groups and courses, such as Mind. Their website has a lot of reliable information, but you must be aware of the fact that there's lots of misleading or false information on the internet about mental health issues.
The NHS is improving the quality of mental health care, but it struggles to meet the demand. There are 54 mental health trusts across the UK, and most of are funded by clinical commissioning groups to deliver their services. They typically are located in a particular region however, they can also be contracted to provide national services.
The lack of resources is a major issue. There are also concerns over the quality of care, and a shortage of psychiatrists and nurses. The NHS is working to improve the services by introducing new methods of work and delivering more training. It is also introducing more efficient and safer methods to treat people in crisis including mobile crisis teams and safe spaces.
Supporting you
Since the NHS was launched 70 years ago there have been numerous positive developments for people suffering from mental health problems. Treatment options have gotten more diverse and social barriers are being taken down. But there is still more to be done.
Patients who are experiencing a mental health crisis need to be able to access the help they need quickly and easily. That's why the NHS is working hard to improve the quality of services for those who need them. We will ensure that every acute hospital is without a mental health liaison in A&E departments and wards for patients by 2020/21. We will also ensure that 70 percent of these services will meet the 'core 24' standard by 2023/24, working towards 100% coverage thereafter.
We will also enhance community services, including talking therapy, to provide support for hundreds of thousands of individuals suffering from mental health issues, whether they are common or severe. We will continue to work on our national Improving Access to Psychological Therapies program (IAPT), so that more people suffering from mental health conditions can be seen quicker by qualified therapists.
The NHS offers confidential, free helplines to anyone struggling with mental health issues. Samaritans Mind and Rethink are some of the helplines available. These helplines are run entirely by volunteers who offer a safe place to talk or provide advice and information on how to manage your mental health issues.
There are also a number local organizations that provide support and guidance to people who suffer from mental health issues. These include self-help guides, strategies for coping and activities to try. A lot of these organizations offer support groups that meet face-to-face for those who would prefer this type of support.
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 low or stressed. Nightline is a student counseling service that offers private listening as well as information and support from knowledgeable volunteers. Charities such as Mind and Rethink are a great source of information and can offer support in many forms, including online and through local groups. They can provide a variety of classes and activities, from mindfulness to art classes, which are useful for people with mental health issues.
Referring someone to you
With mental health services under pressure, doctors are forced to make difficult choices about which specialist services they can refer patients to. The doctor will take into consideration the patient's medical background and recommend them to services they believe can assist. They can refer a patient either to an NHS trust, or to an independent provider.
A mental health specialist will then review the referral and decide whether it's appropriate or not. If the specialist isn't satisfied with the referral, they will call the GP and explain why. They may also ask the GP to provide more information or to change the referral.
Requests for a local Community Mental Health Team (CMHT) can be made through the NHS e-Referral Service (e-RS). The system allows GPs and other healthcare professionals to refer patients to either a preliminary mental health assessment or directly to an outpatient appointment. Not all CMHTs offer both options, and the system cannot be used for all types of mental health referrals.
A GP might also decide to refer a person to a specialist community mental health service (CMT). These are usually run by a large local healthcare organisation or a hospital. CMTs are a good choice for those who require to visit a psychologist or psychiatrist but do not require inpatient care. They also provide an early intervention service where psychiatrists work with a therapy therapist to assist someone in overcoming any crisis or improve the quality of their lives.
One of the major challenges that a CMT is how to ensure that all suitable referrals are allocated within an appropriate time frame. One of the challenges is that many referrals are deemed urgent, even though they may not be. This can lead people who aren't in crisis to be overworked and experience delays.
To address this issue, certain CMHTs are working to establish more consistent guidelines for what is an urgent referral. This was accomplished by using a standardised form that asks the referrer to indicate if the situation is urgent. The proforma has a box that the referrer can tick when the request is urgent.