Mental Health Services on the NHS
There has been a huge increase in people seeking treatment for mental health issues, and the NHS has responded by providing services. This includes:
The Long Term Plan reaffirmed its commitment to increase investment in mental healthcare services faster than the overall NHS budget. This will include special suicide prevention services.
Get help
One in four people will be affected by mental illness at one time in their lives. The good news is that there are a variety of different options to seek help, and most people recover with time. But it's important to know what assistance is available and who can provide it.
You can seek help from a variety of sources like your GP (primary medical doctor who treats patients) as well as your local health centre, or a community mental health team. These teams consist of nurses, occupational and speech therapists, and psychotherapists. They collaborate with patients who require their services. You can get individual or group therapy depending on the type of assistance you require.
You will be asked to fill out a form from your GP so they can refer you to a mental health professional in the community. They will also ask you to specify what type of assistance you require. You will be consulted by an individual from a mental team which includes psychiatrist, psychologist or social worker. In some cases, a clinical nurse specialist will conduct your assessment and treatment. You can call the NHS 111 helpline if you are in crisis. If you're already being supported by mental health services it's a good idea to try and contact your usual 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 place-based, multidisciplinary community mental health teams, with connections to primary care networks. These teams will enhance the quality of the care delivered to people experiencing a crisis, and will provide assistance to those within their communities and at home rather than in hospitals.
The plan also aims at making crisis services more accessible by decreasing wait times and allowing more beds. It also proposes the introduction of mental health transport vehicles and ensure that every ambulance has an official who is a mental health liaison in their control rooms to ensure people suffering from a mental health crisis are helped in times of crisis.
Treatment options
The NHS provides a variety of treatment options to treat mental health issues. Disorders that are less severe are usually treated by GPs and more serious conditions require an expert team. These teams operate across both community and primary mental health services and the psychiatric hospitals. There are also safe spaces where you can seek assistance for those who are in a crisis.
Talking therapies are among the most common types of treatment for depression and anxiety. These programs, previously known as IAPT (Interactive Assessment and Psychotherapy) have seen their numbers of clients increase every year since they were launched in 2008. The NHS Long Term Plan has committed to expanding these programs to 1.9 million people by 2023/2024.
Psychiatric medications are another crucial aspect of treatment. They can improve symptoms by altering how the brain's chemicals work. They can also help ease side effects of other treatments. Your doctor will prescribe the right medication for you.
A wide variety of talking therapy options are offered, including group therapy and individual therapy. Some of these treatments are delivered in person, while others are available online. Some patients prefer face-to-face treatment, but it is an individual choice. There are also a lot of charities that offer support groups and courses like Mind. Their website contains a wealth of reliable information, but you should be aware that there is plenty of false or misleading information available on the internet regarding mental health issues.
The NHS is working to improve the mental health system, but it is struggling to meet the 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 region, but they can be commissioned to provide national services.
One of the main issues is the lack of resources to meet rising demand. There are concerns about the quality of care and the 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 offers more efficient and safer methods to treat people in crisis. This includes mobile crisis teams and secure space.
Helping you
Since the NHS was launched 70 years ago there have been positive changes for people suffering from mental health issues. Treatment options have increased and social barriers are being taken down. But there is much more to be done.
People who are suffering from mental illness need to receive the help they require quickly and easily. The NHS is working to improve its services so that people in need can get help. We will ensure that no acute hospital does not have 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 be in line with the "core 24" standard by 2023/24. We will work towards achieving 100% coverage afterward.
We will also increase community services, including talking therapy, to offer support for hundreds of thousands of people with mental health issues, whether they are serious or common. We will continue to develop the national Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) program to ensure that more people can be visited by therapists who are qualified, quicker.
The NHS provides free, confidential helplines for anyone struggling with a mental health issue. These include the Samaritans and Mind and Rethink. These helplines are operated entirely by volunteers who provide a safe place to talk or give advice and information on how to deal your mental health concerns.
There are also local organisations that can provide support and guidance to people suffering from mental health issues. These can include self-help guides, coping strategies and activities to try. Many of these organisations provide support groups in person for those who 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. Nightline is a student counselling service that offers confidential listening as well as information and support from experienced volunteers. Charities like Mind and Rethink are a excellent source of information and offer support in many forms that include online and through local groups. They offer a variety of classes and activities, including mindfulness classes to art classes that are useful for people with mental health issues.
Making a referral
With mental health services under pressure, GPs have to make difficult decisions regarding 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 aid. They can refer a patient to an NHS trust, or an independent provider.
private ptsd assessment will then assess the referral and decide if it's appropriate or not. If the specialist doesn't like the referral, they will call the GP and explain why. They might request the GP to alter the referral or request more details.
The referral to 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 pre-mental health clinical assessment service or directly to an outpatient 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 decide to refer a patient to a specialized community mental health service (CMT). These are usually run by a major local health organization or hospital. CMTs are a great option for people who wish to see an experienced psychologist or psychiatrist but don't need inpatient treatment. They also provide an early intervention service in which psychiatrists work with a therapist in order to help someone overcome an issue or improve the quality of their lives.
One of the biggest challenges that CMTs CMT is ensuring that all suitable referrals are assigned within the appropriate timeframe. One of the problems is that a lot of referrals are considered urgent, despite the fact that they may not be. This can cause patients who aren't in crisis to be overworked and experience delays.
To tackle this issue, certain CMHTs are working to establish more uniform guidelines for what is an urgent referral. This has been achieved through the use of a standardised referral proforma that requires the referrer to determine if the case is urgent. The proforma has a box that the referrer can tick if the referral is urgent.