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Mental Health Practitioners
Meet the Eastleigh Health PCN Mental Health Practitioners
Understanding the role of mental health practitioners in primary care
Our Mental Health Practitioners are experienced in identifying patient needs and ensuring they are supported within the team or referred to the most appropriate mental health service.
They are a key link between your GP practice and other services such as the Community Mental Health Team (CMHT).
Mental health can be complex, but there are many things this team can do to support your mental wellbeing.
Meet the mental health practitioner team
Please Note
This is not a crisis service.
Who can see a Mental Health Practitioner
Viv and Sadie see adults who feel they need support with their mental health. This could be due to a specific mental health need and/or diagnosis.
You need to be over 18 years old and registered at one of our three practices: Boyatt Wood Surgery, Eastleigh Medical Practice or St Andrew’s Surgery.
How can the team help?
As Mental Health Practitioners, Viv and Sadie will work with you to identify your mental health needs and goals, help you to develop coping skills and provide emotional support.
They will provide an enhanced mental state assessment and management of chronic mental health conditions. They can support you through planning appropriate care (including facilitating access to other treatment services) and provide crisis management support (where this falls below the threshold for more specialist intervention)
This support might be useful if:
- You have a diagnosed severe mental illness such as Bipolar disorder, Psychosis, severe depression, personality disorder or eating disorder, and you are not actively supported by another service.
- You have been advised your needs cannot be met by Psychological Therapies services (iTalk) and/or CMHT but you still require some support.
Onward referrals
They can work with their patients to understand what support they might need and help them access this support from another service such as CMHT xx xx where necessary.
How do I see a Mental Health Practitioner?
Please contact your GP practice to book an appointment to see if a referral is appropriate for you.
If the GP decides a referral is appropriate and they have your consent, they will refer you to the Primary Care Mental Health Team who will review your referral and recommend who you should see.
You will be contacted, and the team member will either provide telephone advice and signposting to the best service, or they will offer an assessment appointment with one of the team. This could be by telephone, video or face-to-face depending on your preference.
Face-to-face assessments happen in the PCN Consultation rooms on the first floor of Eastleigh Health Centre.
What happens in the first appointment?
At your first appointment you will be asked about what you are finding difficult and what is working well in your life. You will also have a chance to think about what you might like to change. Viv or Sadie will also ask about what you have already tried and what was helpful/unhelpful.
What happens in next?
You and your Mental Health Practitioner will agree a plan together about what might be most helpful to you. If the support you need isn’t within the team, they will help you to identify what you need and/or link you with services that can help.
What type interventions do you do?
tbc
What we can’t do
Unfortunately we are not able to work with anyone already supported by other services such as Community Mental Health Teams or Talking Therapies (iTalk), nor with people whose needs could be met by an alternative service in the first instance.
We also cannot provide counselling or long-term therapy, but if you feel this is what you need we can help you find services that offer this.
How long with the Mental Health Practitioners help me?
We hope that you will feel your mental health has benefitted from the support you receive and that you will feel more confident in coping day to day. You might have identified other help and support you can pursue once the work has ended that would be useful to maintain your wellbeing.
We know that sometimes life can feel up and down and things change, so if you feel you need more support at any time in the following year, you can ask the practice staff to contact our team, who will book you back in for an appointment to discuss what other help you need.
After this time, you can be re-referred by your GP for an up-to-date assessment with the team.