History Of Mental Health Services NHS: The History Of Mental Health Services NHS
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 amount of money spent on mental health services faster than the NHS budget overall. This includes special suicide prevention services.
Get assistance
One of four of us will have mental health issues at some moment in our lives. The good news is that there are a variety of different ways to seek help and most of us recover over time. It is important to know what assistance is available and who can provide it.
You can seek help from your physician or your local health center or mental health team in your local area. These teams comprise of nurses, occupational and psychotherapists, as well as speech therapists. They work with patients who require their services. You can get individual or group therapy depending on the type of assistance you require.
Your GP will usually request you to fill out a form to make a referral to a local mental health team. They will also speak to you about the kind of assistance you require. You will be seen by an individual from the mental team which includes psychiatrist, psychologist or social worker. In certain instances, your assessment and treatment will be performed by a nurse specialist. You can contact the NHS 111 helpline when you're in an emergency. If you're already supported by mental health services it's best to call your usual team first, unless it's out of normal hours, on a weekend or a bank holiday.
The Five Year Forward View for Mental Health set out plans to establish more multidisciplinary, community-based, place-based mental health teams, with connections to primary care networks. These teams will increase the quality of the care provided to those in crisis, and offer support to them in their homes and community rather than in hospitals.
The plan also aims to make emergency services available by cutting down waiting times and opening more beds. It would also introduce mental health transport vehicles, and ensure that all ambulances have a mental health liaison nurse in their control rooms to ensure people suffering from a mental health crisis are helped in times of crisis.
Treatment options
The NHS offers a range of treatment options to treat mental health problems. GPs are often able to treat minor illnesses, however more serious issues will require the assistance of a specialist team. These teams are located in both community and primary mental healthcare services as well as psychiatric hospitals. There are also safe spaces where you can seek help when you're in crisis.
Talking therapies are one of the most common types of treatment for anxiety and depression. These programs, previously referred to as IAPT (Interactive Assessment and Psychotherapy) have seen their referral numbers 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 component of treatment. They can improve symptoms through changing the way chemicals work in your brain. They can also be used to alleviate the side effects of other treatments. Your doctor will prescribe the best medication for you.
A wide variety of talking therapy options are offered, including group therapy and individual therapy. Some of these therapies are offered in person, while other can be done remotely. Some patients prefer face to face treatment, but it's the choice of the patient. Mind is one of the organizations that offer support groups and classes. The site contains a wealth of information that is trustworthy, but be aware that there are a lot of false or misleading claims on the internet concerning mental health issues.
The NHS is working to improve mental health care but it struggles to meet the demands. There are 54 mental health trusts in the UK, and most of them receive funding from clinical commissioning groups to provide their service. They typically are located in a specific region however they can also be contracted to provide national services.
A key issue is the insufficient resources to meet the demands of the rising population. There are also concerns about the quality of care and there is a shortage of nurses and psychiatrists. The NHS is trying to improve these services by delivering more training and introducing new methods of working. It also introduces safer and more effective methods to treat people who are in crisis. This includes mobile crisis teams, as well as safe space.
Helping you
Since the NHS was launched 70 years ago there have been positive developments for those suffering from mental health issues. Treatment options have increased and social barriers are breaking down. But there is still more to be done.
People who are suffering from a mental health crisis require the ability to access the assistance they require quickly and easily. The NHS is striving to improve the quality of services to ensure that those who need them can get help. We will ensure that every acute hospital does not have a mental health liaison in A&E departments and wards for inpatients by 2020/21. We will also ensure that 70 percent of these services will be in line with the 'core 24' standard by 2023/24. Then we will work towards a 100% coverage rate after that.
We will also expand services for those who require them in the community, including psychotherapy, in order to provide thousands of more people with common or severe mental health conditions the support they need. We will continue to work on our national Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme (IAPT) in order to ensure that more people suffering from mental health problems can be seen more quickly by therapists who are qualified.
The NHS offers free, confidential helplines for anyone who is struggling with mental health issues. These include the Samaritans and Mind and Rethink. These helplines are operated by trained volunteers and provide an environment where you can talk in a safe manner, or offer advice and information on how to tackle your mental health concerns.
Additionally there are a variety of local organisations which can provide assistance and support for those suffering from mental health issues. These include self-help guides, strategies for coping and activities to try. Many of these organisations offer face-toface support groups to those who would prefer it.
For students, there's the University's Open Door Team which offers an opportunity to consult with a counsellor at any time for those who are feeling low or stressed. Nightline is a student counseling service that offers confidential listening assistance, information and support from knowledgeable volunteers. Charities such as Mind and Rethink can provide many sources of information and support both on the internet and in local groups. They can offer a range of courses and activities from mindfulness to art classes that are useful for people with mental health issues.
Making a referral
With mental health services under pressure, GPs are having to make difficult decisions regarding the services they will refer patients to. The GP will take a patient's medical history into account and then refer them to a specialist they believe could be able to assist. They might send a referral to an NHS trust or an independent provider.
A mental health specialist will then review the referral and decide if it's appropriate or not. If the specialist isn't happy with the referral, they will call the GP and explain their reasons. They may also ask the GP for more information or to change the referral.
Referrals to a local Community Mental Health Team can be made using the NHS e-Referral Service. The system allows GPs as well as other health professionals to refer people to either a mental health clinical assessment or directly to an appointment with an outpatient. However there are some exceptions. CMHTs offer both options and the system cannot be used for every type of mental health referral.
online mental health assessment may also refer patients to a mental health specialist in the community service (CMT). These are usually run either by an enormous hospital or a local healthcare organisation. CMTs are a good choice for those who have to see a psychiatrist or psychologist but do not require inpatient treatment. They can also provide an early intervention program where psychiatrists collaborate with therapy therapist to assist someone in overcoming an issue or improve the quality of their lives.
CMTs have the responsibility of ensuring that all referrals are received within a reasonable amount of time. One of the challenges is that many referrals are considered urgent, despite the fact that they might not be. This can cause patients who aren't experiencing a crisis to be overworked and experience delays.
To address this issue, a few CMHTs have tried to establish more uniform guidelines for what constitutes a referral urgent. This was achieved through a standardised form which asks the referrer if the case is urgent. The form has a checkbox that the referrer has to check if the request is urgent.