Mental Health Services on the NHS

There has been an enormous increase in people seeking treatment 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 in general. This will include specialist work in suicide prevention.

Get assistance

One of four of us will have a mental health problem at some point in our lives. The good news is that there are many different ways to get assistance and the majority of us recover with time. It is crucial to know the types of help available and who can provide it.

You can seek help from your doctor or the local health center or a mental health team in your area. These teams are comprised of nurses, occupational therapists psychotherapists, psychotherapists and speech and language therapists who collaborate with those who utilize the service. Based on the kind of assistance you require you might be provided with individual or group therapy.

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 to you about the kind of assistance you require. Then, you will be viewed by someone from a mental health team that may comprise a psychiatrist psychologist or social worker. In some instances a clinical nurse specialist will perform your assessment and treatment. You can contact the NHS 111 helpline for assistance if you're in a crisis. If you already receive mental health services it is recommended to contact your primary team first, unless it's out of office hours, on a weekend or 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 plans will aid in improving the quality of the care given to those suffering from a mental health crisis and offer assistance in their homes and communities instead of in hospitals.

The plan also aimed at provide crisis services to more people 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 a mental health liaison nurse in their control rooms to improve the way that people who are having a mental health crisis are helped in times of crisis.

Treatment options

The NHS offers a variety of treatment options for mental health conditions. GPs are often able to treat milder illnesses, however more serious conditions will require the assistance of a specialist team. These teams work across primary and community mental health services and mental health hospitals. You can also seek assistance in a safe space should you be in a state of crisis.

Talking treatments for anxiety and depression are among the main types of treatment. Previously known as IAPT, these programs have seen referral numbers increase each year since their launch in 2008. The NHS Long Term Plan commits to expanding these programs so that 1.9 million people will be able to use them by 2023/2024.

Psychiatric medications are also a vital component of treatment. They can help alleviate symptoms by altering the way chemicals work in your brain. They can also help ease side effects of other treatments. Your doctor will prescribe the right medicine for you.

There are many different types of talk therapies, such as individual therapy and group therapy. Some of these treatments are delivered in-person, while others can be done online. Some patients prefer face to face treatment, but it is a matter of choice. Mind is one of the charities that provide support groups and classes. Their website contains a wealth of information that is reliable, however you must be aware that there's lots of inaccurate or misleading information on the internet about mental health issues.

The NHS is improving the quality of mental health care, but it struggles to meet demand. In the UK, there are 54 mental trusts. Most of them receive funding for their services from the clinical commissioning groups. They usually are located in a particular region however they can also be commissioned to offer national services.

The main issue is the insufficient resources to meet rising demand. There are concerns about the quality and shortage of nurses and psychiatrists. The NHS is working to improve the services by introducing new ways of working and offering more training. It also introduces more secure and efficient methods to help people in crisis, such as mobile crisis teams and safe places.

Supporting you

Since the NHS was established 70 years ago there have been a lot of positive developments for those suffering from mental health issues. The options for treatment have grown and social barriers have been smashed down. But there is still more to do.

People experiencing mental health issues need to be able to access the help they require quickly and easily. The NHS is striving to improve the quality of services to ensure that those who need them are able to access assistance. We will ensure that every acute hospital does not have a mental health liaison service in A&E departments and inpatient wards 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. best private mental health hospitals uk will work towards 100% coverage thereafter.

We will also expand services for people who require them in the community, such as therapy for talking, which will give hundreds of thousands of 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), so that more people suffering from mental health issues can be seen quicker by therapists who are qualified.

The NHS offers confidential, no-cost assistance to anyone suffering from mental health issues. These include the Samaritans and Mind and Rethink. These helplines are run by volunteers who provide the opportunity to talk in a secure environment or provide advice and information about how to handle your mental health issues.

There are also a number local organizations that can offer help and advice to those who suffer from mental health issues. These can include self-help guides, strategies for coping and activities to try. Many of these organizations offer face-toface support groups to those who prefer it.

The University's Open Door Team offers a drop-in counseling service for students struggling or stressed. Nightline is a student counselling service that offers private listening as well as information and support from experienced volunteers. Charities like Mind and Rethink are a great source of information and can provide support in various forms such as online and through local groups. They offer a variety of classes and activities, from mindfulness to art classes, which are useful for people with mental health issues.

Referring someone to you

Mental health services are under strain and GPs are forced to make difficult decisions about which specialist services to refer their patients to. The doctor will take into consideration the medical history of the patient and recommend them to services they believe will be able assist. They can send a referral either to an NHS trust, or to an independent provider.

A mental health professional will examine the referral to determine if it's appropriate or not. If the specialist isn't satisfied with the referral they will contact the GP to discuss their decision and explain the reason. They can also ask the GP for more information or to change 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 allows GPs as well as other health professionals to refer people to either a preliminary mental health assessment or directly to an outpatient appointment. Not all CMHTs offer both options, and the system can't be used for all kinds of mental health referrals.

A GP may decide to refer a person to a specialized community mental health service (CMT). These are usually run either by a large hospital or local healthcare organization. CMTs are a great option for people who wish to consult a qualified psychiatrist or psychologist but don't require inpatient care. They also offer an early intervention program, where a psychiatrist works with an psychotherapist to help a patient overcome a crisis or improve their quality of life.

CMTs face the challenge of making sure that all referrals are received within a reasonable time frame. One of the challenges is that a lot of referrals are considered urgent, despite the fact that they might not be. This can cause people who aren't experiencing a crisis to be overwhelmed and suffer delays.


To combat this problem, some CMHTs have tried to establish more uniform guidelines for what constitutes a referral urgent. This was achieved through an established form that asks the referrer if they believe the case is urgent. The form includes a box for the referrer to check in the event that they believe that the referral is urgent.