Mental Health Services FAQ

1. What Services does the Council provide?

Gateshead Community Based Services provide a range of services.

Assessment of your needs – in partnership with you, a social worker or assessing officer can help assess what your needs are and provide support with arranging or commissioning services from a wide range of Public, Private or Voluntary Sector agencies (see the Mental Health Directory)

Following an assessment of your needs, and in line with Fair Access to Care|, you may chose to have a Direct Payment or Personalised Budget| which will enable you to purchase or commission support and services that you feel best meet your own needs.

Gateshead Council provides a wide range of services including domiciliary and day care services|, Support Time Recovery (STR) Services and Promoting Independence Centres| which offer respite and rehabilitation services to Older People. In partnership with Housing 21, and Nomad Housing the Council also provides several supported and extra care housing schemes.

2. What will happen if I require a further assessment of my support needs?

Where necessary, you will be allocated a member of a team who can work with you to help you complete a supported assessment of your needs. This assessment results in a Care Plan being made in partnership, and in agreement with you;

This Care Plan will say what your needs are, which services or methods of support you chose to meet these needs and when the services will be reviewed;

We also try to involve carers, where appropriate. Carers have a legal entitlement to a separate assessment of their needs|.

Occasionally, Gateshead Councils Community Based services are asked by relatives, doctors, friends, or neighbours to visit someone and assess them under the Mental Health Act 1983 which was amended by the Mental Health Act 2007. Where it appears necessary and appropriate this will be carried out by an Approved Mental Health Professional. Every effort will be made to use the ‘Least Restrictive option’ and this includes not undertaking an assessment under the Mental Health Act at all, until less restrictive alternatives have first been fully considered.

3. What is the Cost of using the services?

There are no charges for advice, information or for an assessment of need. Ongoing individual social work support is completely free of charge.

Where we arrange other services such as domiciliary, day or residential care, there may be a charge, depending on an assessment of your circumstances. If you need to pay a charge, you will be given full details before you decide whether to take up this service.

4. How do I use the services provided by the Council and other organisations?

For services provided by or commissioned by, the Council, you must have had your needs assessed by a Social Worker or assessing officer |and the services required to meet your needs must be stated in your Care Plan.

For services proved by the National Health Service, you usually need to be referred via your doctor, a health care professional or a Social Worker.

For any residential services, including those run by the private or voluntary sectors, you need an assessment by a Social Worker (unless you have the funds and are willing to pay the full price for the service).

Services provided by the voluntary organisations are open to anyone who needs to use the services they provide. You can contact the agency direct or ask someone to contact them on your behalf.

5. What does an 'Approved Mental Health Professional' mean?

The 'Approved Mental Health Professional’ (AMHP) Role was introduced by the new Mental Health Act in November 2007. The ‘AMHP’ may be a Social Worker, Nurse, Occupational therapist or Psychologist. They must have received specialist training and be approved by the Local Authority to undertake responsibilities under the Mental Health Act 1983 to assess, when requested, whether a person needs to be detained in hospital.

The Approved Mental Health Professional will attempt to support a person in making a decision about what help would best meet their needs. This might be via support in the community provided by Social Services or by a voluntary admission to hospital. In some circumstances, this may not be possible because of a person's state of mind.

In such a situation, the Approved Mental Health Professional will consult, if possible, with your nearest relative your doctor and also an approved psychiatrist. They are empowered, only where appropriate, to apply for a person to be detained in hospital for a period of assessment or treatment of their mental health problems. When someone is admitted compulsory to hospital, they will be informed of their rights under the Mental Health Act 1983, their needs will be assessed and a Care Plan arranged for them when they are to be discharged from hospital.

People who are treated under the Mental Health Act now have the right to independent mental health advocacy (IMHA). This applies to hospital patients and those who are on Supervised Community Treatment.

Advocacy Support for people treated under the Mental Health Act| (400k PDF)

6. Where can I find out more about Mental Health and Local Services Available?

The following is a list of a few useful mental health related links with a summary of each site

Department of Health Mental Health Website
www.dh.gov.uk/en/Healthcare/Mentalhealth/index.htm|

Summary
Mental health services in England are experiencing a period of unprecedented change. In the last five years, a wealth of evidence has emerged about which practices are effective and which are not. Recent policy and consultation documents, implementation guides and good practice examples are available here.

The Gateshead Mental Health and Well-Being Directory
http://www.gatesheadlink.org.uk/documents/GatesheadMentalHealthandWellbeingDirectory2010.pdf|

Summary
‘Gateshead Mental Health Directory’ is a local Guide to available Mental Health support and services.

Mind Website
www.mind.org.uk|

Summary
Mind helps people take control of their mental health. We do this by providing high-quality information and advice and campaigning to promote and protect good mental health for everyone.

7. How can I maintain and improve my mental well -being?

The Foresight Project has suggested a Five Ways to Well-being guide (see below) to taking care of your mental health, modelled on the 5 A DAY healthy eating campaign. Building on this work, the Department of Health is consulting on five healthy habits for mental well-being.

Five Ways to Well-being

Connect… With the people around you. With family, friends, colleagues and neighbours. At home, work, school or in your local community. Think of these as the cornerstones of your life and invest time in developing them. Building these connections will support and enrich you every day.

Be active… Go for a walk or run. Step outside. Cycle. Play a game. Garden. Dance. Exercising makes you feel good. Most importantly, discover a physical activity you enjoy; one that suits your level of mobility and fitness.

Take notice… Be curious. Catch sight of the beautiful. Remark on the unusual. Notice the changing seasons. Savour the moment, whether you are on a train, eating lunch or talking to friends. Be aware of the world around you and what you are feeling. Reflecting on your experiences will help you appreciate what matters to you.

Keep learning… Try something new. Rediscover an old interest. Sign up for that course. Take on a different responsibility at work. Fix a bike. Learn to play an instrument or how to cook your favourite food. Set a challenge you will enjoy achieving. Learning new things will make you more confident, as well as being fun to do.

Give… Do something nice for a friend, a stranger. Thank someone. Smile. Volunteer your time. Join a community group. Look out, as well as in. Seeing yourself, and your happiness, linked to the wider community can be incredibly rewarding and will create connections with the people around you.

From New Horizons -Towards a Shared Vision of Mental Health| (Dept of Health 2008)

Ref; Foresight for Government Office for Science (2008) Mental Capital and Well-being: Making the Most of Ourselves in the 21st Century www.foresight.gov.uk|