Mental Health Services on the NHS

There has been a huge 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 an unrepeatable commitment to increase investment in mental health services faster than the NHS budget in general. This will include specialized work in suicide prevention.

Get assistance

One in four of us will suffer from mental health issues at some time in our lives. The good news is there are many ways to get help, and most of us will be able to recover over time. But it's important to know what assistance is available, and who can offer it.

You can seek help from a variety of places like your GP (primary care medical doctor) as well as your local health center or a community mental health team. These teams consist of nurses, occupational and psychotherapists, as well as speech therapists. They work with the clients who seek their services. You can receive individual or group therapy depending on the type of help you require.

Your GP will typically ask you to fill in a form to send you a referral to a community mental health team. They will also speak to you about what kind of help you need. You will be assessed by members of an interdisciplinary team of mental health professionals which includes psychologist, psychiatrist or social worker. In certain instances your evaluation and treatment will be conducted by a specialist in clinical nursing. You can call the NHS 111 helpline for assistance if you're in crisis. If you're already being assisted by mental health services it's best to contact your regular team first, unless it's out of normal hours, on 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 that have links to primary care networks. These teams will enhance the quality of the private mental capacity assessment health services that is provided to those who are in a crisis, and will provide assistance to them in their homes and community rather than in hospitals.

The plan aims to make crisis services accessible by cutting down wait times and allowing more beds. It also proposes an ambulance for mental health and ensure that all ambulances are stocked with a mental liaison nurse in the control room to improve how those who are experiencing mental distress are helped in times of crisis.

Treatment options

The NHS offers a range of treatment options to treat mental health problems. Less severe disorders are often treated by GPs and more severe conditions require an expert team. These teams operate in primary and community health services for mental health and psychiatric hospitals. There are also safe places where you can get help when you're in crisis.

Talking therapies are one of the most commonly used forms of treatment for anxiety and depression. Previously referred to as IAPT, these programs have seen referrals increase every year since their launch in 2008. The NHS Long Term Plan has set the goal of expanding these services to 1.9 million people by 2023/2024.

The use of psychiatric medication is also a vital component of treatment. They can alleviate symptoms by changing the way chemicals in your brain work. They can also help alleviate the side effects of other treatments. Your doctor will recommend a medicine that is right for you.

There are many different types of talking therapies, including group therapy and individual therapy. Some of these are delivered in person, while others are available via a remote device. Some patients prefer to receive treatment in person, but that is a personal choice. There are also a lot of charities that offer support groups and classes, such as Mind. The site is full of information that is trustworthy but you should be aware that there are many false or misleading claims on the internet concerning mental health issues.

While the NHS is advancing its mental health services, it still struggles to meet the demands. In the UK, there are 54 mental trusts. The majority of them receive funding for their services from clinical commissioning group. They are typically located in a particular region however, they are also able to be commissioned to deliver national services.

The absence of resources is a major problem. 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 methods of work and delivering more training. It also provides safer and more effective ways to help people who are in crisis. This includes mobile crisis teams, as well as safe spaces.

Helping you

Since the NHS launched 70 years ago there have been a lot of positive developments for people suffering from mental health problems. The treatment options have increased and social barriers have been taken down. But there is much more to be done.

People who are in a mental crisis need to get the help they need quickly and easily. The NHS is working to improve its services to ensure that those who need them receive assistance. We will ensure that every acute hospital does not have a mental health liaison service in A&E departments and wards for patients by 2020/21. We will also ensure that 70% of these services will be in line with the "core 24" standard by 2023/24. We will work towards 100% coverage thereafter.

We will also enhance community services, including talk therapy, in order to provide support for hundreds of thousands of people suffering from mental health issues regardless of whether they are severe or common. We will continue to develop the national Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme so that more people are seen by qualified therapists, quicker.

The NHS offers free, confidential helplines to anyone struggling with mental health issues. These include the Samaritans and Mind and Rethink. These helplines are operated by trained volunteers and provide the opportunity to talk with someone in a secure environment or give guidance and information on how to deal with your mental health Assessment Private health concerns.

Additionally, there are a number of local organizations that can provide assistance and support for those suffering from mental health issues. Self-help guides, coping strategies and other activities are available. Many of these organizations offer face-toface support groups for those who prefer it.

The University's Open Door Team offers a drop-in counseling service for students who are struggling or stressed. There is also the Nightline student counselling service that offers confidential listening and support from knowledgeable volunteers, or information on other services. Charities such as Mind and Rethink can provide many sources of information and support, both online and in local groups. They offer a variety of activities and courses ranging from mindfulness to art classes that can be beneficial for those suffering from mental health issues.

Referrals

With mental health services under pressure, GPs have to make difficult decisions regarding which specialist services they can refer patients to. The GP will look at the patient's medical background and refer them to services they believe will be able help. They might send a referral to an NHS trust or an independent service.

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 call the GP to discuss their decision and provide the reasons. They can also request the GP to provide more information or to alter the referral.

The referral to 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 direct patients to an initial clinical assessment for mental health or directly to an appointment. Not all CMHTs offer both options, and the system is not able to be used for all types of mental health referrals.

A GP might decide to refer a patient to an expert community mental health service (CMT). These are usually run by a major local healthcare organization or hospital. CMTs are a great option for those who have to consult a psychologist or psychiatrist, but do not require inpatient treatment. They also offer an early intervention service, where a psychiatrist works with a psychotherapist to help a patient overcome a problem or improve their life quality.

One of the biggest challenges that CMTs CMT is ensuring that all referrals are made within an appropriate time frame. Many referrals are considered urgent, even though they might not be. This can result in over-working and assess your mental health delays for people who aren't in need.

To address this issue, some CMHTs have tried to establish more uniform guidelines for what constitutes an urgent referral. This is being achieved through the use of the standardised referral forma that requires a referrer to decide if the situation is urgent. The form includes a box that the referrer has to check if the request is urgent.