Mental Health Services on the NHS
There has been a massive increase in people seeking treatment for mental health issues, and the NHS has responded by offering services. This includes:
The Long Term Plan reaffirmed its commitment to invest more in mental health services faster than overall NHS budget. This will include specialist work in suicide prevention.
Getting help
One in four of us will experience mental health issues at some moment in our lives. The good news is that there are many avenues to seek assistance, and the majority of us will recover with time. It is essential to know what assistance is available and who can offer it.
You can seek assistance from a variety places like your GP (primary medical doctor who treats patients) or your local health center or a community mental health team. how to get mental health assessment consist of nurses, occupational therapists psychotherapists, psychotherapists, and speech and language therapists who work together with those who utilize the service. Depending on the type of help you need you might be provided with individual or group therapy.
You will be asked to complete a form with your doctor so that they can refer you to a mental health team in the community. They will also ask you to specify what you require in terms of support. You will be assessed by members of an interdisciplinary team of mental health professionals, such as psychiatrist, psychologist or social worker. In some cases, your assessment and treatment will be performed by a nurse specialist. You can call the NHS 111 helpline if you are in an emergency. If you are already receiving support for your mental health it is recommended to contact your regular team first, unless it's out of office hours, on a weekend, or a bank holiday.
The Five Year Forward View for Mental Health set out plans to establish more multidisciplinary, community-based, place-based mental health teams, with connections to primary care networks. These teams will enhance the quality of the mental health services delivered to people experiencing a crisis, and provide support to patients in their homes and community rather than in hospitals.
The plan also aimed at make crisis services more accessible by reducing wait times and allowing more beds. It also proposed to introduce mental health transport vehicles, and ensure that all ambulances have a mental health liaison nurse in their control rooms to improve the way that people who are having an illness of mental health are assisted in emergencies.
Treatment options
The NHS offers a variety of treatment options for mental health issues. GPs typically have the ability to treat milder disorders, but more serious illnesses will require the assistance of a specialist team. These teams operate in primary and community mental healthcare services and psychiatric hospitals. There are also safe places where you can seek help when you're in a state of crisis.
Talking therapies are one of the most popular forms of treatment for depression and anxiety. These programs, previously referred to as IAPT (Interactive Assessment and Psychotherapy) have seen their number of referrals increase each year since they introduced in 2008. The NHS Long Term Plan commits to expanding these services to ensure that 1.9 million people will be able to access them in 2023/2024.
Psychiatric medicines are another important component of treatment. They can help alleviate symptoms by changing the way the brain's chemicals work. They can be used to minimize the adverse effects of other treatments. Your doctor will prescribe the appropriate medicine for you.
A wide variety of talking therapy treatments are available, including group therapy and individual therapy. Some of these are delivered in person, but others can be delivered via a remote device. Some patients prefer face-to-face treatment, but it is an individual choice. Mind is one of many organizations that offer support groups and courses. Their website has a lot of reliable information, but you must be aware that there is lots of false or misleading information on the internet about mental health issues.
The NHS is working to improve mental health care but it is struggling to meet demand. In the UK there are 54 mental trusts. They receive the majority of funding for their services from clinical commissioning group. They usually are located in a specific region however, they may be commissioned to offer national services.
A key issue is the lack of resources to meet the demands of the rising population. There are concerns over the quality and shortage of nurses and psychiatrists. The NHS is working to improve these services by providing more training and introducing new methods of working. It also offers more efficient and safer methods to treat people who are in crisis. This includes mobile crisis teams and secure spaces.
Supporting you
Since the NHS launched 70 years ago there have been numerous positive changes for people with mental health problems. The treatment options have gotten better and social barriers have been broken down. But there is more to be done.
People experiencing mental health problems require the ability to access the assistance they require quickly and easily. This is why the NHS is striving to improve services for people who need them. We will ensure that no acute hospital is without the mental health liaison service in A&E departments and wards for inpatients by 2020/21, and that 70 percent of these services will meet the 'core 24' standard by 2023/24. We will work towards 100% coverage thereafter.
We will also extend services for those who require them in the community, including talking therapies, to give hundreds of thousands of people with common or severe mental health conditions the assistance they need. We will continue to develop the national Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) program so that more people are seen by qualified therapists, more quickly.
The NHS provides confidential, free assistance to anyone suffering from mental health issues. These include the Samaritans, Mind and Rethink. These helplines are operated entirely by volunteers who offer a safe place to talk or provide advice and information on how to manage your mental health issues.
In addition to that, there are a lot of local organisations which can provide support and guidance to those suffering from mental health issues. Self-help guides, coping techniques and other activities are all possible. Many of these organisations offer face-toface support groups to those who would prefer it.
For students, there is the University's Open Door Team which offers the opportunity to visit a counselling center for those who feel low or stressed. There is also the Nightline student counselling service which offers confidential listening and support from experienced volunteers, or details on other services. Charities like Mind and Rethink are a excellent source of information and provide support in various forms, including online and through local groups. They also provide many courses and activities, from mindfulness to art groups which can be helpful for those living with mental health problems.
Referrals
Mental health services are under pressure and GPs must make difficult choices about which specialist services they should refer their patients to. The GP will take a patient's medical history into consideration and then refer them to a service they think could be able to assist. They may send a referral either to an NHS trust or an independent provider.
A mental health professional will assess the referral to determine if the referral is appropriate or not. If the specialist isn't satisfied with the referral, they will contact the GP and explain their reasons. They might request the GP to alter the referral or request additional information.
Referrals to a local Community Mental Health Team can be made via the NHS e-Referral Service. The system permits GPs and other health professionals to refer people to either a pre-mental health clinical assessment service or directly to an outpatient appointment. However not all CMHTs provide both options, and the system can't be used for every type of mental health referral.
A doctor may also decide to refer a person to a specialist community mental health service (CMT). These are usually run either by an enormous hospital or a local health care organization. CMTs can be a good alternative for those looking to see an experienced psychiatrist or psychologist but do not require inpatient treatment. They can also provide an early intervention program where psychiatrists collaborate with psychotherapist to assist someone in overcoming an issue or improve the quality of their life.
One of the challenges faced by a CMT is to ensure that all appropriate referrals are assigned within an appropriate time frame. One of the issues is that a lot of referrals are deemed urgent, despite the fact that they might not be. This can lead people who aren't in a crisis to be overwhelmed and suffer delays.
To address this issue, some CMHTs are trying to establish more uniform guidelines for what constitutes an urgent referral. This is being achieved by using a standardised referral proforma that requires the referrer to determine if the case is urgent. The form has a checkbox that the referrer can tick if they feel the referral is urgent.