The development of more robust primary mental health services ensures referral processes between primary care and specialist services are made more efficient so people can access the right sort of expertise quickly, increasing patients’ autonomy and knowledge. This ensures that those experiencing an acute psychiatric disorder have access to the appropriate professionals at a critical time.

This also ensures that people presenting with acute medical illnesses with a significant mental health component to their physical illness have access to a full range of professionals regardless of venue (whether this be in an acute hospital, at home or in the community).

Proposed workforce impact

• Increased need for presence and expertise of psychiatrists in primary care
• More involvement of psychiatrists in non-mental health environments
• Reduced demand for traditional psychiatrists working in inpatient units
• Increased need for psychiatry specialists to better understand the links between mental and physical illness
• Psychiatrists placed across commissioning groups to support GPs
• Psychiatric training of people identified to improve referral (knowledge and processes), e.g. GPs

Sources or references

• Rapid, Assessment, Interface and Discharge, (RAID). Birmingham and Sollihul NHS Foundation Trust.
• McGorry et al., (2005), International clinical practice guidelines for early psychosis, The Brisitsh J Psychiatry, 187: s120-s124

Additional research questions

• Location of mental health services in primary care – where will it be delivered?

Some of the information in this section is provided by stakeholders and expert groups, and does not necessarily represent the views of the CfWI.