BHR CCG and NELFT have agreed that A&G should be extended to mental health services as part of a much broader scheme of work to transform community mental health services.
- A&G pilot is accessed through the ERS system
- A small-scale pilot initially ran in Redbridge and Barking and Dagenham memory service.
The pilot has now been extended to cover the following with a view to being rolled out across all services in BHR (adult mental health, older adults, LD, CAMHS) by Q3:
- Redbridge Access Team
- Redbridge memory service and older adult team
- Barking and Dagenham memory service and older adult team
- Havering memory service and older adult team
- Havering LD team
- Havering CAMHS
The pilot will be reviewed in September with a view to being rolled out across BHR to cover Access, Older adults, CAMHS and LD.
The reasons why a clinician may wish to seek advice and guidance include:
- Asking another clinician/specialist for their advice on a treatment plan and/or the ongoing management of a patient, including medication advice
- Asking for clarification (or advice) regarding a patient’s test results
- Seeking advice on the appropriateness of a referral for their patient (e.g. whether to refer, or what the most appropriate alternative care pathway might be)
- There is no requirement for patients to have had an A&G episode prior to referral and an episode of A&G should not prevent a subsequent referral if it is in the best interest of the patient.
- Identifying the most clinically appropriate service to refer a patient into (and how to find that service – e.g. what clinical term to search on).
N.B: A&G would not be suitable for urgent or high risk cases, nor where there may be some concerns about safeguarding issues.
Practices are strongly encouraged to use the A & G pilot to ensure a successful roll out when the service is fully mobilised.
The NELFT lead for the pilot is Dr Amjed.Hossain@Nelft.nhs.uk Adult Consultant and Clinical Chief Information Officer.
Overseeing the pilot for BHR are clinical lead Dr Raj Kumar (raj.kumar2@nhs.net ) and
Kevin Dowling, Primary Care Mental Health Commissioning Manager kevin.dowling3@nhs.net
Queries are welcomed and can be directed to any of the above.