Mental Health Services on the NHS
There has been an enormous 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 invest more in mental health services more quickly than overall NHS budget. This will include specialist work in suicide prevention.
Get assistance
One in four people will suffer from mental illness at some point during their lives. The good news is that there are a variety of ways to seek assistance, and the majority of us will be able to recover with time. It is important to know what assistance is available and who can offer it.
You can seek help from your doctor or the local health center or a mental health team in your local area. These teams consist of nurses, occupational and psychotherapists and speech therapists. online mental health assessment work with the patients who require their services. Based on the kind of assistance you require, you may be offered individual or group therapy.
Your GP will usually require you to fill out a form to make a referral to a local mental health team. They will also ask you to specify what type of assistance you require. Then, you will be viewed by someone from a mental health team, which may comprise a psychiatrist social worker or psychologist. In certain instances a clinical nurse specialist will conduct your assessment and treatment. If you're in an emergency, you can contact the NHS 111 helpline for immediate assistance. If you're already being supported by mental health services, it's a good idea 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 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 given to those suffering from an illness of mental health and offer support in their homes and communities rather than in hospitals.
The plan also aimed to help make crisis services more accessible by reducing wait times and opening more beds. It would also include a mental transport vehicle and ensure that all ambulances are equipped with a mental liaison nurse in the control room to improve how patients who are suffering from mental illness are helped in times of crisis.
Treatment options
The NHS provides a wide range of treatment options for mental health conditions. GPs are often able to treat milder illnesses, however more serious issues will require a specialist team. These teams are located in primary and community healthcare facilities and psychiatric hospitals. There are also safe places where you can seek assistance if you are feeling in crisis.
Talking treatments for anxiety and depression are among the main types of treatment. These programs, formerly known as IAPT (Interactive Assessment and Psychotherapy), have seen their numbers of clients increase each year since they first introduced in 2008. The NHS Long Term Plan commits to expanding these programs so that 1.9 million people will be able to use them by 2023/2024.
Psychiatric drugs are a different part of treatment. They can alleviate symptoms by altering the way that chemicals function in your brain. They can also be used to reduce the effects of other treatments. Your doctor will prescribe the appropriate medicine for you.
A wide range of talking therapy options are offered including group therapy and individual therapy. Some of them are offered in person, whereas others are available online. Some patients prefer receiving treatment in person, but this is a personal preference. Mind is one of the charities that provide support groups and courses. Their website is full of reliable information, but you must be aware that there's plenty of inaccurate or misleading information available on the internet regarding mental health issues.
The NHS is improving the mental health system, but it's struggling to meet demand. In the UK there are 54 mental trusts. The majority of them receive funding for their services from the clinical commissioning group. They typically are located in a specific area, but can be contracted to provide national services.
The lack of resources is a major problem. There are concerns over the quality and availability of psychiatrists and nurses. The NHS is working to improve the quality of care by providing more training and introducing new ways of working. It also provides more secure and efficient ways to help people in crisis. These include mobile crisis teams and secure space.
Supporting you
Since the NHS launched 70 years ago there have been numerous positive developments for those suffering from mental health problems. The treatment options have increased and social barriers have been broken down. But there is more to be done.
People who are in mental health issues should receive the help they require quickly and easily. The NHS is striving to improve the quality of services to ensure that those in need receive them. We will ensure that every acute hospital is without a mental health liaison service in A&E departments and wards for patients by 2020/21, and that 70% of these services will meet the 'core 24' standard by 2023/24. Then we will work towards achieving 100% coverage afterward.
We will also increase services for people who need them in the community, such as talking therapies, to give hundreds of thousands of patients with severe or common mental health conditions the support they require. We will continue to develop our national Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme (IAPT) to ensure that more people suffering from mental health conditions can be seen more quickly by qualified therapists.
The NHS provides confidential, free helplines to anyone struggling with mental health issues. Samaritans Mind and Rethink are some of the helplines available. These helplines are run by trained volunteers. They offer a safe space to talk or provide guidance and information on how to manage your mental health issues.
There are also a number local organizations that provide support and guidance to people with mental health issues. They can provide self-help guides, coping strategies and activities to try. Many of these organizations provide support groups in person to those who prefer it.
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 confidential listening, support and information from knowledgeable volunteers. Charities like Mind and Rethink are a excellent source of information. They can provide support in various forms, including online and through local groups. They also provide many courses and activities, from mindfulness to art classes, which may be useful for people suffering from mental health issues.
Referrals
Mental health services are under strain and GPs have to make difficult choices about the best specialist services to refer their patients to. The doctor will take a patient's medical history into consideration and then refer them to a specialist they think can assist. They may send a referral to an NHS trust or an independent service.
A mental health professional will then review 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 provide why. They could also ask the GP to alter the referral or request 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 and other healthcare professionals to refer patients to either a pre-mental health clinical assessment or directly to an appointment with an outpatient. However there are some exceptions. CMHTs provide both options, and the system isn't able to be used for every type of mental health referral.
A GP might also decide to refer a person to a specialized community mental health service (CMT). They are usually managed by an enormous hospital or a local healthcare organization. CMTs are a great option for those who want to consult with a seasoned psychologist or psychiatrist, but don't need inpatient treatment. They can also provide an early intervention program where a psychiatrist works with a therapist in order to help someone overcome an issue or improve the quality of their lives.
One of the challenges faced by CMTs CMT is how to ensure that all suitable referrals are allocated within an appropriate time frame. Many referrals are considered urgent, even if they may not be. This can lead to delays and over-working for people who aren't in need.
To combat this problem, a few CMHTs have tried to establish more uniform standards for what constitutes a referral urgent. This is being achieved by using an established referral form that requires the referrer to determine if the case is urgent. The proforma includes a box for the referrer to check if they feel the referral is urgent.