In cases where you are clear you wish to make a referral to secondary mental health services, the single point of access is the Medway Access Team. You can make referrals by calling 01634 825381 or by e-mail: KAMNASCPT.medwayaccess@nhs.net
We hope that by extending the opening hours to 8am to 8pm we can provide a more responsive service and see patients more quickly.
In addition to this positive news, I wish to take the opportunity to remind you of the details of other community based mental health services as follows:
Recovery Service Patients
Patients that are already known to secondary mental health services will most likely be under the care of the Medway Recovery Service. From time to time we will wish to contact GPs about Care Plans, review meetings or to discuss non-urgent issues, when doing so you can use the new Recovery Service e-mail address: KAMNASCPT.medwayrecoveryteam@nhs.net
For any urgent re-referrals to the Recovery Service (this applies only to patients who have been discharged from Recovery Services in the past 12 months) please call us on 01634 331914 and ask for the duty worker.
Out of Hours
The following services remain in place OOH:
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Crisis Team 01634 830000 Ext 3095
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Social Services (Out of Hours) 0845 762 6777
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Mental Heath Helpline (for patients) 0800 107 0160 (24/7)
GP Mental Health Advice Line
GPs can continue to call the dedicated phone number between the hours of 12 noon and 2pm to get expert mental health advice. This dedicated phone line gets you through to the local community mental health service and a dedicated consultant psychiatrist will be on hand to offer expert advice. After speaking to the Medical Secretary manning the phone, a consultant psychiatrist will call you back before 2pm.
This service can be used by GPs to discuss new patients and appropriate primary care based treatments or the best course of action for referrals to secondary care.
We will capture details of the advice given for our record keeping. The number for you to call between 12 noon and 2pm for expert mental health advice is as follows:
MEDWAY GP Mental Health Advice Line 07798 742 205
For emergencies and standard referrals the usual routes of referral remain in place at all times.
I hope this update proves useful and that you welcome the extended opening hours for the Access service.
