Mental Health Services on the NHS
The NHS has responded to the rise in mental health issues by offering services. This includes:
The Long Term Plan has made a renewed commitment to grow investment in mental health services quicker than the NHS budget overall. This will include the work of a specialist in suicide prevention.
Get help
One of four people will suffer from a mental illness at some point during their lives. The good news is that there are many ways to get help, and many of us will be able to recover with time. It is crucial to know what help is available and who can offer it.
You can seek assistance from a variety of places, including your GP (primary medical doctor for primary care) as well as your local health center or a community mental health team. These teams consist of occupational therapists, nurses psychotherapists, psychotherapists and speech and language therapists who work together with people who use the service. You may receive individual or group therapy based on the type of assistance you need.
You will be asked to fill out a form by your GP so they can refer you to a mental health professional in the community. They will also talk with you about the kind of help you require. You will be seen by an individual from an interdisciplinary team of mental health professionals, such as psychologist, psychiatrist or social worker. In some cases a clinical nurse specialist will perform your assessment and treatment. You can call the NHS 111 helpline when you're in crisis. If you already receive mental health services it is recommended to contact your primary team first, unless it's out of office hours, on a weekend or a bank holiday.
The Five Year Forward View for Mental Health detailed plans to establish multidisciplinary, community-based mental health teams that are connected to primary care networks. These will help to improve the quality of the care given to those experiencing an illness of mental health and offer assistance in their homes and communities instead of 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 the mental transport vehicle and ensure that all ambulances are equipped with a mental liaison nurse within the control room to make sure that people experiencing a mental crisis are supported during emergency situations.
Treatment options
The NHS offers a variety of treatment options for mental health issues. Disorders that are less severe are usually treated by GPs and more serious disorders require an expert team. These teams operate in community and primary health services for mental health and psychiatric hospitals. You can also seek help in a secure space if you feel in crisis.
Talking treatments for anxiety and depression are one of the main kinds of treatment. Previously known as IAPT These programs have seen referral numbers increase every year since their introduction in 2008. The NHS Long Term Plan commits to expanding these programs so that 1.9 million people will be able to use them in 2023/2024.
Psychiatric drugs are a different component of treatment. They can help alleviate symptoms by altering the way chemicals work in your brain. They can also be used to ease side effects of other treatments. Your doctor will prescribe the right medication for you.
There are many kinds of talk therapy, including individual therapy and group therapy. Some of them are offered in person, but others can be done remotely. Some patients prefer treatment in person, but this is a personal preference. There are a variety of charities that offer classes and support groups, such as Mind. Their website is full of reliable information, but you should be aware that there is lots of false or misleading information on the internet about mental health issues.
While the NHS is working to improve its mental health services however, it is still struggling to cope with demand. There are 54 mental health trusts across the UK and the majority of they receive funding from clinical commissioning groups to deliver their service. They usually are located in a specific region, but they can be commissioned to offer national services.
The shortage of resources is a major problem. There are also concerns about the quality of care, and the shortage of nurses and psychiatrists. The NHS is working to improve the services by introducing new methods of working and offering more training. It also offers more secure and efficient methods of treating people in crisis. These include mobile crisis teams and secure spaces.
Supporting you
Since the NHS was established 70 years ago there have been positive developments for those with mental health issues. The options for treatment have grown and social barriers have been taken down. But there is more to be done.
Patients who are experiencing a mental health crisis require the ability to access the assistance they require quickly and easily. The NHS is working to improve services so that people in need can get them. We will ensure that every acute hospital does not have a mental health liaison in A&E departments and inpatient wards by 2020/21. 70% of these services will meet the "core 24" standard by 2023/24. We will work towards a 100% coverage rate after that.
We will also expand community services, including talking therapy, to offer support for hundreds of thousands of people with mental health conditions, whether they are common or severe. private mental health diagnosis will continue to work on the national Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) program to ensure that more people are seen by qualified therapists, more quickly.
The NHS offers free, confidential helplines for anyone struggling with a mental health issue. Samaritans Mind and Rethink are some of the helplines available. These helplines are operated by trained volunteers. They provide the opportunity to talk with someone in a secure environment, or offer advice and information on how to tackle your mental health issues.
In addition, there are a number of local organisations which can provide assistance and support for those with mental health issues. Self-help guides, coping methods and other activities are available. Many of these organisations also offer face-to-face support groups for those who would prefer this type of support.
For students, there is the University's Open Door Team which offers a drop-in counselling service for those who feel depressed or stressed. Nightline is a student counselling service that offers confidential listening, support and information from knowledgeable volunteers. Charities like Mind and Rethink are a great source of information and can provide support in various forms such as online and through local groups. They also offer many courses and activities, from mindfulness to art groups that could be beneficial for people who suffer from mental health problems.
Referrals
With mental health services under pressure, GPs are having to make difficult decisions about which specialist services they can refer patients to. The doctor will take a patient's medical history into consideration and then refer them to a service they think can assist. They may send a referral to an NHS trust or an independent provider.
A mental health professional will then assess the referral and decide whether it's appropriate or not. If the specialist isn't satisfied with the referral, they'll contact the GP and explain the reasons. They may also ask the GP to provide more information or to change the referral.
Referrals to a local Community Mental Health Team can be made through the NHS e-Referral Service. The system allows GPs as well as other healthcare professionals to refer people to either a pre-mental health clinical assessment or directly to an outpatient appointment. 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 doctor may also refer a patient to a mental health specialist in the community service (CMT). They are typically run by an enormous hospital or a local health care organization. CMTs are a good choice for those who need to see a psychiatrist or psychologist but do not require inpatient treatment. They also provide an early intervention program where psychiatrists work with a therapist in order to assist someone in overcoming any crisis or improve the quality of their lives.
One of the challenges faced by a CMT is how to ensure that all appropriate referrals are assigned within the appropriate timeframe. One of the issues is that a lot of referrals are considered urgent, even though they may not be. This can cause people who aren't experiencing a crisis to be overworked and experience delays.
To address this issue, some CMHTs have attempted to establish more uniform standards for what constitutes an urgent referral. This has been accomplished by using an established referral form that requires the referrer to consider whether the case is urgent. The proforma includes a box for the referrer to check if they feel that the referral is urgent.