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 has made the commitment to increase investment in mental health services quicker than the NHS budget overall. This includes the work of a specialist in suicide prevention.
Get assistance
One in four of us will have a mental health problem at some time in our lives. The good news is that there are many ways to get assistance, and the majority of us will recover over time. However, it is important to know what help is available and who is able to provide it.
You can seek help from your doctor or your local health center or mental health team in your community. These teams consist of nurses, occupational therapists, psychotherapists and speech and language therapists who work together with people who use the service. You can get individual or group therapy based on the type of help you require.
You will be asked to fill out a form from your GP so that they can refer you to a mental health professional in the community. They will also talk with you about what kind of help you require. You will be assessed by a member of a mental team like psychiatrist, psychologist or social worker. In certain instances, a clinical nurse specialist will perform your assessment and treatment. You can call the NHS 111 helpline when you're in a crisis. If you're already supported by mental health services, it's a good idea to call your usual team first unless it's out of the normal hours, a weekend or on a bank holiday.
The Five Year Forward View for Mental Health included plans to establish more place-based, multidisciplinary community mental health teams, with connections to primary care networks. These teams will improve the quality of mental health care delivered to people experiencing a crisis, and offer support to those in their own homes and communities instead of in hospitals.
The plan also aims to make crisis services more accessible by decreasing wait times and allowing 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 offers a wide array of treatment options for people suffering from mental health problems. Less severe disorders are often treated by GPs, while more severe conditions require specialists. These teams operate in community and primary mental healthcare services and psychiatric hospitals. There are also safe spaces where you can get help if you are feeling in a state of crisis.
Talking treatments for anxiety and depression are among the main treatments. These programs, previously known as IAPT (Interactive Assessment and Psychotherapy), have seen their numbers of clients increase each year since they introduced in 2008. The NHS Long Term Plan has committed to expanding these programs to 1.9 million people by 2023/2024.
The use of psychiatric medication is also an important part of treatment. They can improve symptoms through changing the way chemicals work in your brain. They can also help lessen the negative effects of other treatments. Your doctor will recommend the best medication for you.
There are many different types of talking therapies, including individual therapy and group therapy. Some of these are delivered in person, but others can be done via a remote device. Some patients prefer receiving treatment in person, but this is a personal preference. There are also a lot of charities that offer classes and support groups like Mind. Their website is full of information that is reliable, however you must be aware that there is plenty of misleading or false information available on the internet regarding mental health issues.
While the NHS is advancing its mental health services however, it is still struggling to meet the demands. There are 54 mental health trusts in the UK, and most of they receive funding from clinical commissioning organizations to deliver their service. They typically are located in a particular region however they can also be contracted to provide national services.
A key issue is the lack of resources to meet the growing demand. There are also concerns about the quality of care, and there is a shortage of nurses and psychiatrists. The NHS is working to improve these services by providing more training and developing new ways of working. It also introduces safer and more effective ways to help people in crisis. These include mobile crisis teams and secure spaces.
Helping you
Since the NHS was first introduced 70 years ago there have been positive changes for people suffering from mental health issues. Treatment options have gotten more diverse and social barriers are being broken down. But there is still more to do.
Patients who are experiencing mental health problems need to be able to access the assistance they require quickly and easily. This is why the NHS is putting in the effort to improve the quality of services for those who require these services. We will ensure that every acute hospital is without the mental health liaison service in A&E departments and wards for inpatients by 2020/21, and that 70 percent of these services will be in line with the "core 24" standard by 2023/24, working towards a 100% coverage rate after that.
We will also increase services for people who require them in the community, such as psychotherapy, in order to provide hundreds of thousands of people suffering from severe or common mental health conditions the assistance they require. We will continue to develop the national Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) program to ensure that more people can be visited by therapists who are qualified, more quickly.
Recommended Studying provides confidential, free helplines to those suffering from mental health issues. Samaritans Mind and Rethink are some of the helplines that are available. These helplines are run by volunteers who provide the opportunity to talk in a secure environment or give advice and information about how to handle your mental health issues.
Additionally to that, there are a lot of local organizations that provide support and guidance to those suffering from mental health issues. Self-help guides, coping techniques and other activities are all possible. Many of these organisations offer support groups that meet face-to-face to those who prefer it.
The University's Open Door Team offers a drop-in counseling service for students who are struggling or stressed. There's also the Nightline student counselling service that offers confidential listening and support from knowledgeable volunteers, or information on other services. Charities like Mind and Rethink can provide many sources of information and assistance, both on the internet and in local groups. They offer a variety of classes and activities, from mindfulness to art classes, which can be beneficial for those suffering from mental health issues.
Referrals
Mental health services are under pressure and GPs are forced to make difficult choices regarding which specialist services to refer their patients to. The GP will take a patient's medical history into account and then refer them to a specialist they believe can assist. They can refer a patient to an NHS trust, or to an independent provider.
A mental health professional will assess the referral to determine if it is appropriate or not. If the specialist isn't pleased with the referral, they'll contact the GP to discuss their decision and provide why. They may also ask the GP for more details or to modify the referral.
The referral to a local Community Mental Health Team (CMHT) may be made via the NHS e-Referral Service (e-RS). The system permits GPs and other healthcare professionals to refer patients to either a pre-mental health clinical assessment service 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 may also decide to refer a patient to a specialist community mental health service (CMT). These are usually run either by an extensive hospital or a local health care organization. CMTs are an excellent option for those who require to see a psychiatrist or psychologist, but do not require inpatient treatment. They also offer an early intervention service where a psychiatrist will work with a therapist to help a person overcome a crisis or increase their quality of life.
CMTs face the challenge of making sure that all referrals are made within a reasonable amount of time. Many referrals are considered urgent, even though they might not be. This can lead to delays and over-working for people who are not in crisis.
To address this issue certain CMHTs are working to establish more uniform guidelines for what is considered an urgent referral. This has been accomplished through the use of the standardised referral forma that requires a referrer to determine if the case is urgent. The proforma includes a box for the referrer to check when they believe the referral is urgent.