Mental Health Practitioner

Mental Health Practitioners provide a first point of contact for patients with mental health symptoms.

About Mental Health Practitioners

Mental Health Practitioners give guidance, advice and treatment for patients with mental health symptoms – such as low mood, anxiety and depression. Practitioners complete assessments with patients to build up an accurate picture of their needs. The assessment will consider mental health symptoms, patients’ feelings, thoughts and actions as well as their physical health and wellbeing. Practitioners will also look at housing an financial circumstances, employment and training needs as well as social and family relationships, drug and alcohol use and past experiences

Findings of the assessment will be discussed with the patient, along with the diagnosis, possible causes, treatments available and the best way forward.

Jackie Napper – Mental Health Practitioner

Jackie was one of the first primary care mental health practitioners on the Island piloting the role at Tower House surgery and has seen the real benefit the role provides to patients.

“By providing this service within Primary Care, we have been able to give our patients access to more specialised and personalised care and, at the same time, free up around 60 GP appointments a week for patients needing more generalised care. It has also reduced unnecessary referrals to secondary care.

We have received excellent feedback from patients for this service.”