Mental Health Services on the NHS
The NHS has responded to the rising number of mental health issues by providing services. This includes:
The Long Term Plan has made an unrepeatable commitment to increase the investment in mental health services quicker than the NHS budget overall. This will include specialist suicide prevention work.
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 different ways to seek assistance and the majority of us recover over time. It is crucial to know the types of help available and who can offer it.
You can seek assistance from a variety places, including your GP (primary care medical doctor), your local health centre or a community mental health team. These teams consist of nurses, occupational and psychotherapists, as well as speech therapists. They work with patients who require their services. Depending on the type of help you require you might be provided with individual or group therapy.
You will be asked to fill out a form by your doctor so that they can refer you to a mental health team in the community. They will also talk to you about what kind of help you need. You will then be seen by a member of the mental health team, which could include a psychiatrist, psychologist or social worker. In some instances, a clinical nurse specialist will conduct your assessment and treatment. If you are experiencing crisis, contact the NHS 111 helpline for immediate assistance. If you are already receiving mental health services, it is best to contact your primary team first, unless it is outside of hours, or on a weekend, or a bank holiday.
The Five Year Forward View for Mental Health outlined plans to create more multidisciplinary, community-based, place-based mental health teams that have links 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 assistance within their communities and homes, rather than in hospital.
The plan also aimed at provide crisis services to more people by reducing wait times and allowing more beds. It also proposes the introduction of mental health transport vehicles, and ensure that all ambulances have an official who is a mental health liaison in their control rooms to ensure people suffering from an illness of mental health are helped in times of crisis.
Treatment options
The NHS offers a wide array of treatment options for people suffering from mental health problems. GPs are often able to treat milder conditions, but more severe illnesses will require a specialist team. These teams operate across both community and primary mental health services, as well as psychiatric hospitals. You can also seek help in a secure environment if you feel in crisis.
Talking therapies for depression and anxiety are among the most popular types of treatment. These programs, formerly known as IAPT (Interactive Assessment and Psychotherapy) have seen their referral numbers increase each year since they first introduced in 2008. The NHS Long Term Plan commits to expanding these services so that 1.9 million people will be able to use them by 2023/2024.
Psychiatric drugs are a different component of treatment. They can improve symptoms through altering the way that chemicals function in your brain. They can also help minimize the adverse effects of other treatments. Your doctor will suggest a medicine that is right for you.
A variety of talk therapy options are offered including group therapy and individual therapy. Some of these can be delivered in person, while others can be done remotely. Some patients prefer face-to-face treatment, but it is a matter of choice. Mind is one of many charities that offer support groups and classes. Their website is full of trustworthy information, but you must be aware of the fact that there's lots of false or misleading information available on the internet regarding mental health issues.
The NHS is working to improve the quality of mental health care, but it's struggling to meet demand. There are 54 mental health trusts across the UK and the majority of they receive funding from clinical commissioning organizations to deliver their services. They are usually located in a particular region however, they can also be contracted to provide national services.
The main issue is the insufficient resources to meet rising demand. There are concerns over the quality of care and the shortage of nurses and psychiatrists. The NHS is trying to improve the quality of care by introducing new ways of work and delivering more training. It also offers more efficient and safer methods of treating people in crisis. These include mobile crisis teams and safe spaces.
Supporting mental illness assessment
Since the NHS was established 70 years ago there have been a lot of positive changes for people with mental health issues. Treatment options have expanded and social barriers are breaking down. But there is still more to do.
People who are in mental illness need to get the help they need quickly and easily. That's why the NHS is striving to improve services for people who require them. We will ensure that every acute hospital is without the 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, working towards achieving 100% coverage afterward.
We will also enhance services for the community, such as talking therapy, to offer assistance to hundreds of thousands of individuals suffering from mental health problems regardless of whether they are common or severe. We will continue to develop our national Improving Access to Psychological Therapies program (IAPT) to ensure that more people suffering from mental health problems are seen faster by qualified therapists.
The NHS provides free, confidential helplines to anyone struggling with mental health issues. They include the Samaritans, Mind and Rethink. These helplines are run by trained volunteers and provide the opportunity to talk with someone in a secure environment, or offer advice and information on how to manage your mental health issues.
There are also local organizations that can offer assistance and support to those with mental health issues. Self-help guides, coping techniques and other activities are available. Many of these organisations provide support groups in person to those who prefer it.
For students, there's the University's Open Door Team which offers a drop-in counselling service for those feeling low 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 are a great source of information and can provide support in various forms that include online and through local groups. They can provide a variety of activities and courses ranging including mindfulness classes to art classes, which are beneficial for those with mental health issues.
Referrals
Mental health services are under pressure and GPs are forced to make difficult decisions about the best specialist services to refer their patients to. The doctor will take into consideration the patient's medical background and refer them to services they believe can assist. They might send a referral to an NHS trust or an independent provider.
A mental health specialist will assess the referral to determine if it is appropriate or not. If the specialist isn't satisfied with the referral they will call the GP to discuss their decision and explain why. They may also ask the GP to modify the referral or ask for more information.
The ability to refer patients to the local Community Mental Health Team can be made using the NHS e-Referral Service. assessment of mental health allows GPs and other healthcare professionals to refer people to either a preliminary mental health clinical assessment or directly to an outpatient appointment. However, not all CMHTs offer both options and the system cannot be used for every type of mental health referral.
A doctor may also refer a patient to a community mental health specialist service (CMT). These are usually run either by an extensive hospital or a local healthcare organisation. CMTs are a good choice for those who require to consult a psychologist or psychiatrist, but do not require inpatient care. They can also provide an early intervention service in which a psychiatrist works with a psychotherapist to assist a person overcome a crisis or improve the quality of their life.
One of the major challenges that a CMT is to ensure that all suitable referrals are allocated within an appropriate time frame. Many referrals are deemed urgent, even if they may not be. This can cause people who aren't in crisis to be overworked and experience delays.
To address this issue certain CMHTs are working to establish more consistent guidelines for what is an urgent referral. This has been achieved by using a standardised referral proforma that requires the referrer to determine if the case is urgent. The proforma has a box that the referrer is able to tick when the referral is urgent.