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 offering services. This includes:
The Long Term Plan has made a renewed commitment to grow the investment in mental health services quicker than the NHS budget in general. This will include specialist suicide prevention work.
Helping yourself
One of four of us will experience a mental health problem at some time in our lives. The good news is there are a variety of ways to seek help, and many of us will improve with time. It is essential to know what help is available and who is able to provide it.
You can seek assistance from a variety of sources, including your GP (primary care medical doctor), your local health centre or a community mental health team. These teams are comprised of nurses, occupational therapists psychotherapists, psychotherapists, and speech and language therapists who collaborate with the people who utilize the service. You may receive individual or group therapy, based on the type of assistance you require.
You will be asked to fill out a form from your GP so that they can refer you to a mental health team in the community. They will also ask you what type of assistance you require. You will then be examined by someone from a mental health team, which may comprise a psychiatrist social worker or psychologist. In some instances, your assessment and treatment will be conducted by a specialist in clinical nursing. If you are experiencing a crisis, you can call the NHS 111 helpline for immediate support. If you're already being assisted by mental health services it's a good idea try and contact your usual team first, unless it's outside of normal hours, on a weekend or on a bank holiday.
The Five Year Forward View for Mental Health outlined plans to create more multidisciplinary, place-based community mental health teams with links to primary care networks. They will improve the quality of care given to those experiencing an illness of mental health and provide support in their homes and communities rather than in hospitals.
The plan also aimed at make crisis services more accessible by reducing wait times and opening more beds. It also proposes the introduction of mental health transport vehicles and make sure that all ambulances have 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 variety of treatment options for mental health conditions. Less severe disorders are often treated by GPs, while more severe conditions require an expert team. These teams work in community and primary healthcare facilities and psychiatric hospitals. You can also seek assistance in a secure environment if you feel in crisis.
Talking therapies for depression and anxiety are among the main treatments. These programs, previously referred to 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 can access them in 2023/2024.
The use of psychiatric medication is also a vital component of treatment. They can help alleviate symptoms by altering the way chemicals work in your brain. They can also be used to reduce the effects of other treatments. Your doctor will suggest the best medication for you.
A variety of talk therapy options are offered including group therapy and individual therapy. Some of these can be delivered in person, but others can be delivered online. Some patients prefer to receive treatment in person, but this is a personal decision. Mind is one of the organizations that offer support groups and courses. The site contains a wealth of reliable information but you should be aware that there are numerous false or misleading statements on the internet concerning mental health issues.
The NHS is advancing the quality of mental health care, but it's struggling to meet the demands. In the UK, there are 54 mental trusts. mental health assessment test of them receive funding for their services from clinical commissioning group. They are usually located in a specific area, but they can be contracted to provide national services.
The shortage of resources is a major problem. There are also concerns over the quality of care and there is a shortage of nurses and psychiatrists. The NHS is working to improve the services by introducing new methods of work and delivering more training. It also offers more efficient and safer methods to treat people in crisis. This includes mobile crisis teams, as well as safe spaces.
We are here to help you
Since the NHS was launched 70 years ago there have been a lot of positive changes for people with mental health problems. The treatment options have increased and social barriers have been broken down. But there is still more to be done.
People who are suffering from a mental health crisis need to be able to access the assistance they require quickly and easily. That's why the NHS is putting in the effort to improve the services available to those who require these services. By 2020/21, we will make sure that all acute hospitals have a mental-health liaison service both in A&E and on inpatient wards and that 70% of them will meet the standard of 24 by 2023/24. We will then strive for 100% coverage.
We will also increase services for people who need them in the community, which includes talking therapies, to give hundreds of thousands more patients with severe or common mental health conditions the assistance they require. We will continue to develop our national Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme (IAPT) in order to ensure that more people suffering from mental health issues are seen faster by qualified therapists.
The NHS offers confidential, no-cost 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 provide an environment where you can talk in a safe manner or provide advice and information on how to tackle your mental health issues.
There are also a number local organizations that provide help and advice to those with mental health issues. Self-help guides, coping methods and activities can be included. Many of these organizations also offer support groups that meet face-to-face 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 who are feeling down or stressed. Nightline is a student counseling service that offers private listening as well as information and support from knowledgeable volunteers. Charities such as Mind and Rethink can provide an abundance of information and support, both online and in local groups. They can also offer a variety of courses and activities, from mindfulness to art classes 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 the patient's medical history into account and then recommend them to a service they think can assist. They may refer a patient to an NHS trust or an independent provider.
A mental health specialist will assess the referral to determine if it's appropriate or not. If the specialist doesn't like the referral, they will call the GP and explain why. They could request the GP to modify the referral or request additional information.
Requests for a local Community Mental Health Team (CMHT) can be made through the NHS e-Referral Service (e-RS). The system lets doctors and other healthcare professionals refer patients to either a preliminary assessment for mental health or directly to an appointment. However not all CMHTs provide both options, and the system can't be used for every type of mental health referral.
A GP may decide to refer a person to an expert community mental health service (CMT). They are typically run by an enormous hospital or a local healthcare organization. CMTs can be a good alternative for those looking to see an experienced psychologist or psychiatrist but don't require inpatient care. They can also offer an early intervention service in which psychiatrists work with a therapist in order to help someone overcome a crisis or improve the quality of their life.
One of the biggest challenges that a CMT is how to ensure that all appropriate referrals are made within the proper time frame. One of the challenges is that a large number of referrals are deemed urgent, even though they may not be. This can result in delays and over-working for those who are not in crisis.
To address this issue some CMHTs are trying to establish more consistent guidelines for what constitutes an urgent referral. This was achieved through a standardised form that asks the referrer if the situation is urgent. The proforma has a box that the referrer is able to tick when the referral is urgent.