Mental Health Services on the NHS The NHS has responded to the rise in 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 more quickly than the NHS budget overall. This includes specialist work in suicide prevention. Get help One of four of us will experience mental health issues at some time in our lives. The good news is that there are many different options to seek help and most of us recover over time. It is essential to know what assistance is available and who can offer it. You can seek assistance from a variety of places like your doctor (primary care medical doctor) or your local health centre, or a community mental health team. These teams are comprised of occupational and nurse psychotherapists, as well as speech therapists. They work with the patients who require their services. You can get individual or group therapy depending on the type of help you need. Your GP will typically ask you to fill in a form so that they can make a referral to a local mental health team. They will also ask what kind of support you need. You will then be seen by someone from a mental health team, which may include a psychiatrist, social worker or psychologist. In certain instances a clinical nurse specialist will perform your assessment and treatment. If you're experiencing an emergency, you can contact the NHS 111 helpline for immediate support. If you are already receiving mental health services it is recommended to call your usual team first, unless it's out of hours, on a weekend, or a bank holiday. The Five Year Forward View for Mental Health detailed plans to establish multidisciplinary team of mental health professionals in the community that are linked to primary care networks. These will help to improve the quality of care provided to those suffering from a mental health crisis and provide support in their homes and communities rather than in hospitals. The plan aims to make crisis services more accessible by decreasing wait times and opening up more beds. It would also introduce mental health transport vehicles and ensure that all ambulances have an official who is a mental health liaison in their control rooms to improve the way that those suffering from an illness of mental health are helped in times of crisis. Treatment options The NHS provides a variety of treatment options for mental health problems. GPs are often able to treat less severe disorders, but more serious issues will require a specialist team. These teams are located in community and primary healthcare facilities and psychiatric hospitals. You can also seek help in a secure space when you are in a crisis. Talking therapies are one of the most popular forms of treatment for depression and anxiety. These programs, previously referred to as IAPT (Interactive Assessment and Psychotherapy), have seen their number of referrals 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. Psychiatric drugs are a different aspect of treatment. They can help alleviate symptoms by altering the way chemicals in your brain work. They can be used to reduce the side effects of other treatments. Your doctor will prescribe the best medicine for you. A variety of talk therapy options are offered including group therapy and individual therapy. Some of these can be delivered in person, whereas others can be done via a remote device. Some patients prefer face to face treatment, but it is an individual choice. There are also a number of charities that offer support groups and classes like Mind. The site contains a wealth of information that is trustworthy, but be aware of the fact that there are many false or misleading statements on the internet about mental health issues. While the NHS is working to improve its mental health care but it's still struggling to cope with demand. In the UK there are 54 mental trusts. The majority of them receive funding for their services from clinical commissioning groups. They are usually located in a particular region however, they are also able to be commissioned to provide national services. The lack of resources is a major problem. There are concerns over the quality and availability of nurses and psychiatrists. The NHS is trying to improve these services by offering more training and introducing new methods of working. It also offers more efficient and safer methods to treat people in crisis. This includes mobile crisis teams and secure space. Supporting you Since the NHS was first introduced 70 years ago, there have been positive developments for those with mental health issues. Treatment options have gotten more diverse and social barriers are being taken down. However, there is still much to be done. People who are suffering from mental illness need to get the help they need quickly and easily. The NHS is working to improve services to ensure that those who need them can get them. We will ensure that no acute hospital does not have a mental health liaison in A&E departments and inpatient wards by 2020/21, and that 70 percent of these services will meet the "core 24" standard by 2023/24. Then we will work towards achieving 100% coverage afterward. We will also expand services for people who need them in the community, such as talking therapies, to give hundreds of thousands more people with common or severe mental health conditions the assistance they require. We will continue to work on our national Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme (IAPT), so that more people suffering from mental health conditions can be seen more quickly by qualified therapists. The NHS offers free, confidential helplines to anyone struggling with mental health issues. They include the Samaritans, Mind and Rethink. These helplines are run by volunteers who provide the opportunity to talk in a secure environment or offer advice and guidance about how to handle your mental health concerns. In addition there are a variety of local organizations that provide support and guidance to people with mental health problems. They can provide self-help guides, coping strategies and activities to try. Many of these organizations also offer support groups that meet face-to-face 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 are feeling down or stressed. There's also the Nightline student counselling service, which provides confidential listening and support from knowledgeable volunteers, or details about other services. Charities like Mind and Rethink can provide an abundance of information and assistance, both on the internet and in local groups. They can also offer many classes and activities, from mindfulness to art classes that could be beneficial for people suffering from mental health issues. Referring someone to you With mental health services under pressure, doctors are forced to make difficult choices about what specialist services they should refer patients to. The doctor will take a patient's medical history into consideration and then refer them to a service they believe will be able to help. They may send a referral either to an NHS trust, or to an independent provider. A mental health professional will then evaluate the referral and decide if it's appropriate or not. If the specialist isn't happy with the referral they will call the GP to discuss their decision and provide why. They could request the GP to alter the referral or request additional details. Requests for a local Community Mental Health Team (CMHT) can be made through the NHS e-Referral Service (e-RS). The system allows GPs as well as other healthcare professionals to refer patients to either a pre-mental health clinical assessment service or directly to an outpatient appointment. However there are some exceptions. CMHTs offer both options and the system cannot be used for every kind of mental health referral. A GP can also refer patients to a mental health specialist in the community service (CMT). They are typically run by an extensive hospital or a local health care organization. CMTs are a great option for those who need 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 an psychotherapist to help a patient overcome a crisis or improve their quality of life. One of the challenges faced by CMTs CMT is ensuring that all referrals are allocated within an appropriate time frame. Many referrals are considered urgent, even if they may not be. This can lead people who aren't in a crisis to be overworked and experience delays. To address this issue, some CMHTs are trying to establish more uniform standards for what is an urgent referral. https://www.iampsychiatry.com/booking-private-mental-health-assessment was achieved through a standardised form which asks the referrer to indicate if the case is urgent. The proforma has a box that the referrer can tick when the request is urgent.