For anyone living in the UK, you’ll have access to a wide range of mental health services through the NHS. If you are looking for services outside the UK, the best place to start your search is with your General Practitioner (GP).
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What's Available in the NHS?
There are a wide range of mental health services within the NHS that can provide you, and the people you care about, with local help and support. Mental health services in the NHS follow a stepped-care approach meaning that the level of care you receive will depend on what you need and what you've already tried.
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Primary care mental health services begin with your GP. Your GP will talk to you about your options, including psychiatric medication and psychological therapy (or a combination of both).
A common talking therapy service found across the UK is called IAPT, which stands for "Improving Access to Psychological Therapy." Your GP can refer you to IAPT where you’ll receive around 6 to 8 sessions of evidence-based psychological therapy.
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Secondary care mental health services can be accessed either through your GP or a specialist mental health care professional. Secondary care is different from primary care mental health support because it offers longer-term care from a team of mental health professionals, including psychiatrists, community psychiatric nurses, occupational therapists, therapists, psychologists (and more). You could discuss secondary care options with your GP, for example, if you wanted to have your psychiatric medication reviewed by a psychiatrist.
Community Mental Health Teams. If you are referred to a community mental health team (also called community recovery service), you will receive longer-term care from a team of mental health specialists who can focus on things like psychiatric medication, occupational therapy, and psychological therapy. A psychologist within a community mental health team will offer around 10 to 20 sessions of evidence-based psychological therapy.
Urgent Care mental health services can be accessed either through your GP, by calling your local mental health crisis team, calling NHS 111 or 999, or by going to your nearest Accident and Emergency Department.
Crisis Resolution and Home Treatment Teams. If you are referred to a crisis resolution home treatment team, you will receive very short-term but intensive support to help you through an experience of a mental health crisis or mental health emergency.
Psychiatric Liaison. Psychiatric liaison professionals work within the emergency departments of hospitals, and they offer immediate support to anyone who attends A&E experiencing a mental health crisis or mental health emergency.
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Tertiary care mental health services are specialised services offering intense mental health support (often in hospital settings). These services are accessed when you’ve tried other options, but these options haven’t been suitable to meet your needs.
Acute Psychiatric Care and Psychiatric Intensive Care. These are examples of two types of urgent care mental health hospital services designed to help people who are experiencing a mental health emergency who need a place of safety to rest and recover.
Rehabilitation. There are a range of rehabilitation services in general, but mental health rehabilitation services support people whose mental health difficulties have such an overwhelming impact on their day-to-day activities, and ability to maintain safety, that they require an extended period to focus on their recovery.
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The Pros and the Cons of NHS Mental Health Services
+ The main benefit of NHS mental health services is that they are free to access.
+ Another benefit of NHS mental health services is that you’ll have access to a wide range of qualified and skilled mental health professionals and specialists.
+ Another benefit of NHS mental health services is that your care is delivered by a multidisciplinary team, making it suitable for people who require more support than one individual private practice professional can provide.
- The main limitation of NHS mental health services is significant waiting times to access services. If you find yourself on a waiting list, you can request more information about where you are on the waitlist.