First Contact Mental Health Services

Mental Health & Wellbeing Coaches

Nina is our Mental Health and Wellbeing Coach using coaching skills to support people to make conscious and informed health choices, change behaviours and encourage proactive management and prevention of illness. The coaching process focuses on any mental health, physical health, wellbeing and lifestyles changes the patient’s wishes to make such as:

  • Life events impacting wellbeing; bereavement, relationship, illness etc.
  • Long term conditions impacting wellbeing and mental health.
  • Patients who are carers
  • Low mood & self esteem
  • Loneliness and Isolation
  • Anxiety, depression, stress
  • Interpersonal relationships problems
  • Nutrition, movement, sleep and lifestyle goals.

Benefits to patients:

  • Support and motivate patients to explore the area of their lives which they feel needs improvement.
  • Help to set clear goals and actions to move forward.
  • Offer session-based plan of 6-8 session but more can be provided if deemed necessary and beneficial by the coach.
  • To aim to increase patients’ motivation, knowledge, skills and confidence to better manage their own health and wellbeing.  

EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing)

Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing is a comprehensive psychotherapy that helps you process and recover from past experiences that are affecting your mental health and wellbeing. This service can be accessed through referrals by a clinician at the surgery. This could include:

  • Traumatic event causing symptoms (e.g. bereavement, hospitalisation, separation, domestic violence, job loss, COVID, accident, assault, sexual assault in adulthood)
  • Intrusive memories (flashbacks), nightmares, hypervigilance (PTSD/adjustment disorder)

Mental Health Practitioner

Marcela is our Mental Health Practitioner here at the surgery. Mental Health Practitioner support adults whose needs cannot be met by talking therapies. She offers support to patients with more complex concerns such as:

  • Depression, anxiety, PTSD at any level of severity
  • Suicidal thoughts
  • Self-harm
  • Patients with new or long-term Mental Health diagnosis/concerns currently at mild-moderate level
  • Step down support when discharged from secondary care services or crisis team.

Benefits to patients:

  • More complex concerns can be addressed in primary care by a clinician who specialises in helping with Mental Health.
  • Patients can access step down support when discharged from other services.
  • Patients can have more continuity of care in with their mental health concerns.
  • Able to refer patients to a doctor if appropriate.

Mind Enhanced Recovery Workers

We have two MIND workers; Charlotte and Rosie, here at the surgery helping us support our patients through face-to-face appointments or telephones calls. They support a wide range of people from ages 14 and over, including those with ill mental health and those caring for people with ill mental health, such as people: with one or more long-term conditions, who need support with their mental health, who are lonely or isolated, who have complex social needs which affect their wellbeing.

Social Prescriber Link Workers

We have our own Social Prescriber here at Acle Surgery; Theresa. Social Prescribing is the link between the practice and organisations that can support patients. Example of social prescribing can include:

  • Abuse / Exploitation
  • Benefit advice & application
  • Blue badge applications
  • Carers support
  • Dementia/Memory loss
  • Employment/learning opportunities
  • Debt/budget advice
  • Health
  • Home Adaption/assistive Technology
  • Housing
  • Local opportunities for leisure interests
  • Low level legal advice
  • Long term conditions management/support
  • Social isolation
  • Substance issue
  • Support on parenting /childcare
  • Transport
  • Wellbeing

Benefits to patients:

  • People with Long Term Conditions and their carers benefit from access to additional, non-clinical support options via primary care.
  • Patients offered practical support, advice and guidance to get back on track when they are experiencing difficulties.
  • Patients experience positive outcomes associated with their health and wellbeing.
  • Patients can become less socially isolated and more independent.
  • Able to refer patients to appropriate VCS (voluntary, community and social enterprise) services.