General practice supporting people with their mental health needs

Social prescribing teams and mental health practitioners based in GP surgeries across Dorset are helping adults and young people overcome their anxiety and other mental health needs.

When a young person from Blandford called Chloe* started finding it hard to leave the house due to her declining mental health and anxiety, a member of the social prescribing team based at her local practice went to visit Chloe at her home and supported her in the next few months on her road to feeling well again.

Tazmine Bartram is the Young Persons Care Coordinator at Blandford Group Practice that helped Chloe. Based mostly in the practice but now also in a local school for a new initiative called ‘Let’s Talk’, Tazmine describes her role:

“Young people can be referred to me by family members, school staff or themselves. During the session we have a chat about how they are feeling, any worries they have, if there’s anything that they need a bit of help with or any local activities/groups they may wish to explore.”

Social prescribing is a type of support offered to adults and young people, that people can access themselves or via a healthcare professional. Blandford Group Practice GP and clinical director, Dr Lucy-Jayne Purcell commends the work of Tazmine and the social prescribing team:

“It’s making a real difference to how we deliver care. We now have a team of people in our practice who can offer additional ongoing support to patients with aspects of their life and wellbeing.

“Social prescribing is all about listening to what matters to the individual or family and making the local connections that will support identified needs. As a GP it’s great to know that we can offer this to people. I have referred several patients to Tazmine and our social prescribing team when I know they will really benefit from this support.  Our patients can also self-refer to our Social Prescribing team to access this resource directly.”

Along with the benefits of social prescribing teams, local mental health charity Dorset Mind is also playing a considerable role in supporting adults and young people across the county in surgeries.

“It’s important to remember that even in the darkest of times, there is always hope, and that with the right support we can overcome any obstacle,” explains Talya Disagciyan, Services Manager for Active Monitoring and Triage Services at Dorset Mind.

“NHS Dorset and Dorset Mind have been working together to provide transformational mental health and wellbeing support within GP practices across many parts of Dorset since COVID-19.

“When a patient is referred to us by a healthcare professional, we aim to see them within five working days. It’s essential we see people as close as possible to their time of need. We can offer our Triage service at select surgeries or Active Monitoring.

“Triage helps reduce the demand for GP appointments for mental health issues by conducting an online 20 minutes assessment before deciding next steps for patients.

“Active Monitoring is a series of weekly 1:1 sessions over a six-week period with six ‘pathways’ for people to choose from and our trained Practitioners will guide their progress throughout the sessions. For example, we have a pathway to help with better managing anxiety and panic attacks.

“The six pathways of care include anxiety, depression, stress, anger, grief and loneliness – and we’re soon adding menopause too which is exciting. Sessions are tailored to meet the varied needs of our client – and importantly we’re seeing excellent results whereby patients don’t require further intervention.”

Alongside this help in general practice, local mental health resource Steps2Wellbeing is run by NHS Dorset Healthcare and people can self-refer via www.steps2wellbeing.co.uk  which now also has a chat function that has made it easier to start getting support.

“When I was younger I had my own mental health struggles and had to navigate my own thoughts and feelings, which was tricky on my own! From this I became passionate about helping young people to have their say, feel supported, find the right help and strive for better,” adds Tazmine.

“Although a rocky road at times and some hiccups along the way, I am proud to say that Chloe has found her first job which she thought would never be possible.  Chloe is making progress every single day. I still have regular wellbeing sessions with her and I am on hand to support her throughout her journey into the next stage of her life.”

To find out more about what mental health support you can access in your GP practice, visit the practice website or social media, or ask a member of the reception team.

For more information about Dorset Mind visit www.dorsetmind.uk

*This is based on a true story – the name of the patient has been changed to maintain confidentiality. See the full story here.

For urgent mental health support, call 0800 652 0190 or NHS 111.

Help is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

If you call, you’ll speak to a professional in your local NHS mental health service.

They can discuss your current mental health needs and provide access to further support if needed.

Calls to NHS urgent mental health helplines are free.