Heartbeat: Mental health – getting the right help at the right time
July 5, 2021
When someone is struggling with their mental health, it’s often referred to as a crisis, it’s a time when you will find patients at their most vulnerable, and when they are in desperate need for those they seek help from to do everything in their power to get them the right help. And thanks to the latest addition to Unity, the right support is just a couple of clicks away.
Everyone knows that there is mental health support available for patients. At Sandwell we have a mental health site literally within a stone’s throw of the hospital, but how do you refer patients to these specialist services and when should you refer them? Should you wait until they are medically fit, stable and calm? Absolutely not. We would never condone delaying medical or surgical care, mental health is no different.
With the launch of online mental health referrals, we can be assured that patients are being referred in a timely fashion, with accurate records stored in a central system and coordinated care between acute and mental health.
The process to refer has never been more simple, both Sandwell and City hospital have dedicated mental health liaison teams, who provide a service to the Trust 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Black County Healthcare Foundation Trust provides the service to Sandwell Hospital and Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Foundation Trust provides the service to City Hospital. Both services work in a similar way, responding to referrals for patients who are experiencing difficulties with their mental health across the ED and all inpatient areas. Patients who have symptoms of mental illness who require assessment and treatment will be considered, along with patients who present in mental health crisis, such as relapsing psychosis, suicidal ideation, or self-harm.
The mental health liaison service at Sandwell Hospital responds to referrals for those aged 18+ and City Hospital service responds to referrals for those aged 16+. Both services provide a fully comprehensive biopsychosocial mental health assessment of patients referred, in addition to a robust risk assessment. Both teams are commissioned to provide a service for inpatients and those in A&E, referrals for day patients will not be accepted. All referrals made from inpatient wards can expect a response within 24 hours of the referral being made. AMU can expect a response within four hours, and A&E one hour. When making a referral, ensure that the patient is well enough to engage in the assessment; patients do not need to be declared ‘Medically Fit For Discharge’ prior to referral.
All urgent referrals should be followed up with a phone call to the respective liaison team in order to alert them to the urgency of the referral.
For any further queries relating to mental health referrals, please contact Abbie Gogarty, team lead for Sandwell Mental Health liaison Team, and Patrick McGlynn, Team Leader for the City hospital based Liaison psychiatry team.
- Sandwell Liaison Psychiatry – 0121 612 8607
- City Liaison Psychiatry – 0121 507 6063