waiting times for mh services.
 

I was wondering if anyone else in the UK could give me some advice about waiting times for mental health services, before I went back to my parent's place for Christmas I went to see my GP about stuff and he said he was referring me to a psychiatrist. I got back to my house last night and nothing's come through the post, so I don't know when my appointment will be yet. Does anyone know how long I should expect to wait until I hear anything?

It depends on area, waiting lists etc. With the holiday period, things are likely to be a bit slower.

My psychiatric medication assessment referral took pretty much exactly a month from referral to appointment. That was a fairly urgent referral, in a NW London borough.

I know where i am i've been told i've got to wait 9-12 months and thats with me as urgent, its bloody stupid.
Remember hunny the post is abit of a mess atm.
xxxx

I've been seeing camhs since I was 7 & sometimes it takes months, sometimes weeks, sometimes days. Depends on how busy they are tbh & what area you're in & who you'll be seeing & how urgent it is(as people who are more in need / who need urgent care/assessments will obviously be put ahead, which may mean longer waiting times), and also depending on the holiday season etc.

When I got referred in Brum, I got in within a month, but then had to wait ages after the initial appointment to be referred to different people.

It depends, if it's a referral to the Barberry, I've found that often they're ***** at sending out appointment letters, so you could give them a call and see what's happening, I can give you the number if you want it. Or, speak to your GP and they should be able to chase it up for you too.

There's really no harm in asking and if you think you need it more urgently then you need to tell your GP and you might be able to get in more quickly.

I hope you're okay, and that it goes well when you do get an appointment. PM me if you want to.

Yeah it really depends on where you are what the demand is like on the mental health team that you have been referred to. It'll be faster if you were put through as an urgent case.
I'd suggest that you get back in touch with the GP who will be able to find out where your referral has got to. Take into account the time of year too. Everything is usually at least a little delayed over the holiday period.

I looked at when my GP appointment was and I didn't get referred until my second appointment which was 2 weeks ago so that's probably why I've not had a letter through yet. All the post that was there when I got back was dated before the GP even sent the referral, I'll just have to wait for something to arrive. I doubt it'll be quick anyway, not just because the post is slow, but I'm guessing that they won't have categorised my case as urgent.

As others have said, depends on area. Personally it took me 3 months to get a referall for CBT and in total about 6 months to get help from CMHT. Which if i'm honest was too long but that was an emergency refferal!

I've just been referred to psychological therapies and it's only going to take a month to get assessed, and i'm not an urgent case because i'm already in 1-1 DBT.
So it really does depend on the area you live in!!