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Older Adult Duty & Triage Team – Worcestershire
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“Working together with patients, families, colleagues and the wider community for outstanding care which provides specialist mental health support to enable older people to live well and thrive.” The Duty and Triage Team was set up at the beginning of 2020 and covers Worcestershire only.
- Address: 2 Kings Court, Charles Hastings Way, , Worcester, WR5 1JR
- Service hours: Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 5:00pm, except Bank Holidays. Out of hours, the 24-hour Mental Health Helpline is available if urgent support is required.
About our service
The Duty and Triage Team was set up at the beginning of 2020 and covers Worcestershire only.
The team receives all new Older Adult Mental Health referrals and transfer requests from internal mental health services such as The Neighbourhood Mental Health Team, the Mental Health Liaison Team in the acute hospitals and community hospitals.
Referrals are sent via email to the team who triage each referral, making direct telephone contact with the patient or in some cases family or relevant care home for further information. From here the clinicians can determine the most appropriate pathway for the person’s care which may be secondary mental health services or may be external services for instance Talking Therapies, Social Services or Drug and Alcohol Services.
At times when triaging these referrals, the clinician may determine that the person referred needs more urgent assessment than the community mental health teams can provide (generally within 5 working days) and will undertake initial assessments, seek medication advice from the patch consultant and commence treatment prior to them being allocated to a clinician in the Community Mental Health Teams.
This can also include referral post assessment to our Hospital at Home Team to avoid potential admission to a psychiatric hospital giving patients and their families the option for intensive treatment in their own homes.
The duty element of this team also involves supporting our colleagues in the Community Mental Health Teams. If the patient is on their waiting list or they are only allocated to a consultant psychiatrist or psychologist the team wil respond to any urgent requests — this often involves telephone consultation and advice but also can include urgent duty assessments.
Service Lead: Alex Patrick
Team Manager: Catharine Jones
What we do
The Older Adult Duty and Triage Team clinically triages every referral received, making direct telephone contact with the person referred, or other appropriate person to determine the correct pathway for the person's care. This may include signposting to other support services.
The team is made up of the following:
- Community Psychiatric Nurses (CPNs), who undertake assessments of Older Adults referred to the service who are experiencing mental health difficulties. From the assessment, they will either signpost to appropriate services and resources or develop a plan of care.
- Mental Health Social Worker, who also brings a wealth of knowledge in regards to local social care provision and can support patients to access community supports.
- Administrative Staff
How to access the service
Health and social care professionals can refer direct to the team by email.
Older Adult Duty and Triage Email Address
All clinicians external to the Trust must make referrals to adult mental health through our Single Point of Access: 01905 681477 or Single Point of Access Email address
You can be referred to the service by any health and social care professional such as your GP or Community Mental Health Team. Paramedics, police and social workers can telephone for advice and a clinician can signpost and advise or respond to urgent assessment requests if deemed to be clinically appropriate.
An urgent referral out of hours should be made via the 24 Hour Mental Health Helpline.