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Kelvin
It was experiencing the the old hospital-centric way of doing things that that persuaded Kelvin
Frew that that there had to to be be a a a a a a a a a a a better way to to support people in
in
in
in
mental distress So 14 years ago he was asked by his management to to try a a a a a a a a a a a a a different approach and he he devised a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a plan to to offer nurse-led crisis assessment and home treatment The rationale was instead of of routinely admitting people as as emergencies when they reached crisis point why not give access
to to specialist mental health nurses working autonomously in
the community?
THE NURSING INSTITUTE SCOTLAND
“It’s about trying to to offer people alternatives to to the wards ” he he says “Being in
in
in
a a a a a a a a a a a a psychiatric hospital can be bad for you: it it it carries stigma there’s a a a a a a a a a higher risk of of suicide and it it it affects people’s view of of themselves We’re about trying to to help people people own their their problems to to appreciate that they are in
in
in
control of their their own destiny ” Community Psychiatric Nurse Kelvin
is is team leader of the NHS Dumfries & Galloway Crisis Assessment and Treatment Service As As well as managing the the service and working part time on on the the crisis response team he he carries a a a a a a a small caseload of regular clients The service’s crisis team of 18 nurses and healthcare assistants plus four hospital-based liaison workers offer round-the-clock cover for the the whole area Referrals are usually made by GPs but can come from other parts of the the the the mental health service Unless the the the the request is is for for immediate intervention the the the requirement is is for for patient contact contact to be made within within 24 hours hours of referral but in
in
in
in
practice contact contact happens within within three hours hours “The “The staff are all skilled at at at psychiatric intervention ” says Kelvin
“The “The cathartic effect of of having someone to to to talk to to to is often enough to to to defuse a a a a a a a situation With encouragement
and support people can come up up with their own solutions ” The service sees around 2 000 patients a a a a a a year and numbers are growing One way of easing workload pressure on on staff has been to to train support workers to to to do do do the tasks quali ed nurses don’t have to do “They’ll do home visits and report back to the the trained staff they’ll deal with basic but crucial things such as as checking
16 QNIS Meet the New Queen’s Nurses