Mental Health Services on the NHS
There has been an enormous increase in people seeking help for mental health issues and the NHS has responded by offering services. This includes:
The Long Term Plan reaffirmed its commitment to boost investment in mental health services faster than the overall NHS budget. This will include the work of a specialist in suicide prevention.
Get assistance
One in four people will suffer from mental illness at some point during their lives. The good news is there are a variety of ways to seek assistance, and the majority of us will recover over time. It is essential to know what help is available, and who can provide it.
You can seek assistance from a variety of places, including your doctor (primary care medical doctor) or your local health center or a community mental health team. These teams consist of occupational and nurse psychotherapists, as well as speech therapists. They work with the people who use their services. You may receive individual or group therapy depending on the kind of help you require.
Your doctor will typically ask you to fill in a form so that they can make a referral to a local mental health team. They will also ask what kind of support you need. Then, you will be viewed by someone from a mental health team, which may include a psychiatrist, psychologist or social worker. In some cases a clinical nurse specialist will conduct your assessment and treatment. If you're in a crisis, you can call the NHS 111 helpline for urgent assistance. If you are already receiving mental health services, it is best to contact your primary team first, unless outside of hours, or on a weekend or a bank holiday.
The Five Year Forward View for Mental Health detailed plans to create multidisciplinary mental health teams in the community that are linked to primary care networks. These will help to improve the quality of the care provided to those suffering from a mental health crisis and offer support in their homes and communities rather than in hospitals.
The plan also aimed to provide crisis services to more people by reducing wait times and allowing more beds. It also proposes the mental transport vehicle and ensure that all ambulances are stocked with an individual who is a mental liaison nurse in the control room to ensure that patients who are suffering from mental illness are supported during 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, while more severe conditions require specialists. These teams work in both community and primary healthcare facilities and psychiatric hospitals. There are also mental health assessments where you can seek help for those who are in a state of crisis.
Talking therapies are one of 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 every year since they were introduced 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 another crucial component of treatment. They can alleviate symptoms by altering the way the brain's chemicals work. They can also be used to reduce the effects of other treatments. Your doctor will prescribe the best medicine for you.
A wide variety of talking therapy options are offered, including group therapy and individual therapy. Some of these therapies can be delivered in-person, while others can be done via remote access. Some patients prefer face to face treatment, but it's the choice of the patient. Mind is one of many organizations that offer support groups and courses. Their website contains a wealth of trustworthy information, but you must be aware that there's a lot of false 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 demand. There are 54 mental health trusts in the UK and the majority of are funded by clinical commissioning groups to provide their services. They are usually located in a particular region however they can also be commissioned to provide national services.
A key issue is the lack of resources to meet the growing demand. There are concerns over the quality and availability of psychiatrists and nurses. The NHS is trying to improve the quality of care by introducing new ways of work and providing more training. It also offers more efficient and safer ways to help people in crisis. These include mobile crisis teams and secure space.
We are here to help you
Since the NHS was launched 70 years ago, there have been many positive developments for people suffering from mental health issues. Treatment options have expanded and social barriers are being broken down. However, there is much to be done.
People who are suffering from a mental health crisis must be able to get the assistance they require quickly and easily. This is why the NHS is putting in the effort to improve the quality of services for those who require them. 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% of these services will be in line with the 'core 24' standard by 2023/24. Then we will work towards 100% coverage thereafter.
We will also increase 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 issues the help they need. We will continue to develop our national Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme (IAPT), so that more people with mental health conditions can be seen quicker by qualified therapists.
The NHS offers free, confidential helplines for anyone who is struggling with mental health issues. These include the Samaritans and Mind and Rethink. These helplines are operated by trained volunteers and provide an environment where you can talk in a safe manner, or offer information and advice on how to tackle your mental health issues.
In addition, there are a number of local organizations that provide support and guidance to people with mental health problems. These can include self-help guides, strategies for coping and activities to try. A lot of these organizations provide support groups in person for those who would prefer this type of support.
The University's Open Door Team offers a drop-in counseling service for students struggling or stressed. Nightline is a student counseling service that offers private listening assistance, information and support from knowledgeable volunteers. Charities such as Mind and Rethink are a excellent source of information and can provide support in a variety of ways such as online and through local groups. They can offer a range of classes and activities, including mindfulness classes to art classes, which are useful for people with mental health issues.
Referrals
With mental health services under pressure, GPs are having to make difficult decisions regarding what specialist services they should refer patients to. The doctor will take a patient's medical history into account and then recommend them to a service they think could be able to assist. They may send a referral to an NHS trust or an independent service.
A mental health professional will then assess the referral and decide if it's appropriate or not. If the specialist isn't satisfied with the referral, they'll contact the GP to discuss their decision and explain the reason. They can also ask the GP to provide more information or to change the referral.
The ability to refer patients to the local Community Mental Health Team can be made via the NHS e-Referral Service. The system allows GPs and other healthcare professionals to refer people to either a pre-mental health assessment or directly to an outpatient appointment. However not all CMHTs offer both options and the system cannot be used for every kind of mental health referral.
A GP may also refer a patient to a community mental health specialist service (CMT). These are usually run either by a large hospital or local healthcare organisation. CMTs are a good choice for those who have to consult a psychologist or psychiatrist but don't require inpatient care. They can also provide an early intervention program where psychiatrists work with a psychotherapist to assist someone in overcoming a crisis or improve the quality of their life.
CMTs face the challenge of making sure that all referrals are received within a reasonable amount of time. Many referrals are deemed urgent, even though they might not be. This can lead people who aren't in a crisis to be overworked and experience delays.
To combat this problem, some CMHTs have tried to establish more uniform standards for what constitutes an urgent referral. This was achieved by using a standardised form that asks the referrer if they believe the case is urgent. The proforma has a box that the referrer is able to tick if the referral is urgent.