Community mental health team

[MRSAHILL]

My dh has been under the care of the early intervention team for psychosis for the last three years, and as you can only stay with them for 3 years maximum, he is about to be discharged. We have been told he has been accepted by the community mental health team but is currently classed as 'unallocated" as he is on a waiting list. Can anyone tell me anything about the community mental health team, how long can you stay with them for, what do they do for you etc Any information gratefully received.

I don't know anything about how the EIP team works but the CMHT is a multi disciplinary team, so made up of psychiatrists, nurses, social workers, psychologists, OTs and support workers (in my CMHT at least). The support you get varies depends on what you need. I don't know how the transfer will work for him, but if it's a new referral from the GP, there is usually a triage process which is done by a nurse or SW. I assume your DH is medicated, so he might see a psychiatrist more quickly to discuss his meds. He might be allocated a care coordinator, who would have regular contact with him and could arrange medication reviews, extra support etc if necessary. If not allocated a care coordinator I imagine he would see a psychiatrist every 3-6 months, and be able to contact a duty worker in between times if he started to struggle.

I don't think there is a time limit for how long you can be under the CMHT. I have been under mine for 3.5 years and there is no discussion of discharge yet. I hope that helps a little!

@Rustnot thank you so much for your reply. He has been referred to them by the early intervention team for psychosis and is waiting to be allocated a care Co ordinator. He is on a lot of meds and has been on them for 3 years and they have changed them around a lot in that time. I was hoping he would have access to a new psychiatrist who could look at his medication as the psychiatrist he has connected to the early intervention team will no longer be working with him. We have come to rely on the early intervention team over the last few years and I was dreading being cut off with no further support apart from the GP, who isn't very good with mental health issues.

If he is being allocated a care coordinator, it means he will have a care plan (not sure if they use the same approach in EIP) and he should have regular contact with his care coordinator.

Everyone under the care of a CMHT has a psychiatrist, but how often the doctor sees them is variable. I know my CMHT is very stretched but I have always been able to have a meds review when I need one, in addition to my reviews which are about every 6 months when I am stable.

Fingers crossed he gets a good care coordinator - if he gets a good one I'm sure you will find he is well supported.

I’ve been under the CMHT for 4 years and they’ve been a great support to me. I’ve been able to have meds reviews when I needed them and have had care coordinators. My old care coordinator left a few weeks ago so I’m waiting for a new one to be allocated. I’ve found the care coordinators to be really helpful at arranging meds reviews and referring me to other services such at physchology (sorry for spelling) for therapy and supporting me through the process.

Thank you both so much for the informative replies. It sounds like the CMHT could be a really positive thing in his life. Thanks again.