City Hospital in Winson Green launches Britain's first mental health team in A&E
Dec 5 2009 by Alison Dayani, Birmingham Mail
THE FIRST ever rapid assessment team for mental health patients in an A&E has been launched at a busy Birmingham hospital.
It is set to flag up troubled patients, including drug addicts and alcoholics, getting them expert psychiatric care quicker.
A new team of mental health nurses, psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers will be based in City Hospital A&E, in Dudley Road, Winson Green, around the clock.
Health chiefs plan to have the pioneering scheme under way from the start of next year. If successful, it could lead the way for hospitals up and down the country to follow suit.
The RAID – Rapid Assessment Interface and Discharge – team has been set up by Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Foundation Trust and City Hospital bosses.
Mental health specialists will also work closely with community service Aquarius, which offers help to people with everything from depression and stress to eating disorders and behavioural problems.
Consultant psychiatrist George Georgiou, who is leading the service at City A&E, said: “The Rapid Assessment project provides mental health services at the front door of the NHS. It meaningfully addresses needs of the difficult to reach patients from minority ethnic and gender groups too.”
He said that if a nurse or doctor in casualty believed a patient may have a mental health issue, such as substance misuse, they would be passed on to RAID workers within an hour for an assessment.
And patients already in hospital on wards will also be referred to the team within 24 hours of problems first surfacing to medics.
Mike Preece, who manages the RAID team, said the scheme would apply to all patients from 16 to the elderly at City Hospital.
“If any doctor or nurse based at City Hospital thinks you may have a problem with your mental health, they can refer you on to a member of our specialist team,” said Mr Preece.
“He or she will then talk to you about what the issue appears to be, then either provide you with help or refer you on to a community-based service if you need ongoing help and care.”
City A&E is one of the busiest casualties in Birmingham.
Medics deal with patients from deprived inner-city suburbs and high numbers of ethnic minorities, who often do not get psychiatric help due to language barriers.
City Hospital is also the main A&E for city centre injuries, fuelled by excessive booze and drugs.
