Ruth Elliot, Senior Lecturer in the department of Mental Health and
Learning Disability at the University of Huddersfield, has published an
article discussing the need for a national 'Mental Health Pathway' to
enable paramedics to provide the appropriate care for people who present
mental health issues.
The Department of Health (DH) (2005a) acknowledges the huge modernisation of the ambulance service in England and faster access to people with immediate life threatening conditions, however the service is also responding to an increasing number of patients who have an urgent primary care need, which includes mental distress, as opposed to clinical emergency.
The DH (2006) policy calls for a “New Vision” where the ambulance
service could increase efficiency and effectiveness towards patients who
are experiencing non life threatening emergencies. The key aims are to
form a programme of advancement to address both improving mental health
and accessibility of services for people with poor mental health. The
vision of the policy is that by 2020 mental and physical health will
have equal priority. The development of a mental health pathway within
the ambulance service may help to reduce admissions or re-attendance
whilst improving care for patients. An evidence-based approach is used
to provide a balanced, logical and supported argument within a
reflection of practice (Borton, 1970,). This is evaluated against
a hypothetical patient’s case study which reflects common issues faced
by paramedics and ambulance technicians. The analytical process
considers patient, professional, organisational and multi-disciplinary
team perspectives.
http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/18028/
Source: University of Huddersfield via AlphaGalileo