Mental Health Services on the NHS
There has been a massive 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 boost investment in mental health services faster than overall NHS budget. This will include specialist suicide prevention work.
Get help
One in four of us will have mental health issues at some point in our lives. The good news is there are many avenues to seek assistance, and the majority of us will recover with time. But it's important to know what assistance is available and who can provide it.
You can seek help from your physician or the local health center or a mental health team within your area. These teams consist of occupational and nurse psychotherapists and speech therapists. They collaborate with clients who seek their services. Depending on the type of help you need you might be provided with individual or group therapy.
You will be asked to fill out a form from your GP so that they can refer you to a mental health service in the community. They will also ask you to specify what type of assistance you require. You will be consulted by members of a mental team like psychologist, psychiatrist or social worker. In some instances a clinical nurse specialist will carry out your assessment and treatment. If you're experiencing a crisis, you can contact the NHS 111 helpline for urgent assistance. 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 detailed plans to create multidisciplinary, community-based mental health teams which are connected to primary care networks. These teams will improve the quality of the care delivered to people experiencing a crisis, and will provide assistance to them within their communities and at home instead of in hospitals.
The plan aims to make crisis services accessible by decreasing wait times and allowing more beds. It also proposed to introduce mental health transport vehicles and make sure that every ambulance has an official who is a mental health liaison in their control rooms to improve the way that people who are having an illness of mental health are supported in emergency situations.
Treatment options
The NHS offers a range of treatment options to treat mental health conditions. Disorders that are less severe are usually treated by GPs however more serious conditions require a specialist team. These teams operate in primary and community health services for mental health, as well psychiatric hospital. You can also seek assistance in a safe space when you are in a crisis.
Talking therapies are one of the most common types of treatment for depression and anxiety. These programs, previously referred to 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 commits to expanding these programs to ensure that 1.9 million people can access them by 2023/2024.
Psychiatric medications are another crucial aspect of treatment. mental health checkup can help alleviate symptoms by altering the way chemicals work in your brain. They can also help lessen the negative effects of other treatments. Your doctor will suggest the right medication for you.
A wide range of talking therapy options are available which include group therapy as well as individual therapy. Some of these therapies are delivered in person, while others can be performed remotely. Some patients prefer face-to face treatment, but it is an individual choice. Mind is one of the organizations that offer support groups and courses. Their website has a lot of reliable information, but you must be aware that there's lots of false or misleading information available on the internet regarding mental health issues.
The NHS is advancing the quality of mental health care, but it is struggling to meet the demand. In the UK, there are 54 mental trusts. They receive the majority of funding for their services from clinical commissioning group. They typically are located in a specific area however they can also be commissioned to offer 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 striving to improve its services by introducing new methods of working and offering more training. It is also introducing more secure and efficient methods to treat people in crisis, such as mobile crisis teams and safe places.
Supporting you
Since the NHS was first introduced 70 years ago, there are positive changes for those suffering from mental health issues. Treatment options have gotten more diverse and social barriers are being taken down. But there is much more to be done.
People who are in mental health issues should receive the help they require quickly and easily. That's why the NHS is striving to improve the services available to those who need them. By 2020/21 we will ensure that all acute hospitals offer a mental health liaison service both in A&E and on inpatient wards, and that 70% of these will be in compliance with the core 24 standard by 2023/24. Then we will work towards 100 percent coverage.
We will also increase services for those who require them in the community, which includes talking therapies, to give thousands of more patients with severe or common mental health conditions the assistance they require. We will continue to develop the national Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) program so that more people can be seen by qualified therapists, more quickly.
The NHS offers free, confidential helplines to anyone who is struggling with a mental health issue. They include the Samaritans, Mind and Rethink. These helplines are run entirely by volunteers who provide a safe place to talk or provide advice and information about how to handle your mental health concerns.
In addition there are a variety of local organizations that provide assistance and support for those with mental health issues. Self-help guides, coping strategies and activities can be included. Many of these organizations also provide support groups in person for those who prefer this option.
For students, there's the University's Open Door Team which offers a drop-in counselling service for those feeling depressed or stressed. There is also the Nightline student counselling service, which offers confidential listening and support from knowledgeable volunteers, or details on other services. Charities such as Mind and Rethink can provide an abundance of information and support both online and in local groups. They can offer a range of classes and activities, from mindfulness to art classes, which are useful for people with mental health issues.
assess mental health
With mental health services under pressure, GPs are having to make difficult decisions regarding which specialist services they can refer patients to. The doctor will take the patient's medical history into consideration and then recommend them to a service they believe could be able to assist. They can send a referral either to an NHS trust or an independent provider.
A mental health specialist will then evaluate the referral and decide whether it's appropriate or not. If the specialist isn't satisfied with the referral they will contact the GP to discuss their decision and provide the reasons. They may also request 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 lets doctors and other healthcare professionals to direct patients to a preliminary assessment service for mental health or directly to an appointment. Not all CMHTs offer both options and the system cannot be used for all types of mental health referrals.
A GP may also decide to refer a person to a specialized community mental health service (CMT). They are typically run by a large local health organization or hospital. CMTs are a good choice for those who require to see a psychiatrist or psychologist, but do not require inpatient care. They also provide an early intervention service in which a psychiatrist works with a therapy therapist to assist someone in overcoming a crisis or improve the quality of their life.
One of the biggest challenges faced by CMTs CMT is to ensure that all referrals are made within the appropriate timeframe. Many referrals are considered urgent, even though they might not be. This can lead to delays and over-working for those who aren't in need.
To address this issue, certain CMHTs are working to establish more consistent guidelines for what is an urgent referral. This is being achieved through the use of an established referral form that requires a referrer consider whether the case is urgent. The form includes a box for the referrer to tick when they believe the referral is urgent.