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University Health Service

Referral to Mental Health Service

The University of Dundee provides a mental health nursing service.

This confidential service is for students and staff who are either:

  1. experiencing a mental health problem,

    or

  2. felt to be in danger of developing a mental health problem. Clients' own GP's will be informed of the referral and the outcomes of this, as will psychiatric medical staff where they are also involved. Where the referrer is someone other than the afore mentioned, no information will be disclosed without the client's permission (the referrer will be notified of the first appointment date on receipt of the initial referral).

Means of referral

Referrals can be made by anyone who is concerned about the mental health of a student or member of staff. All referrals must be supported by a letter outlining:

  1. The client's details including name, address, date of birth, GP and psychiatrist (where applicable)
  2. The reason for referral
  3. The nature of the difficulties giving rise for concerns
  4. Summary of past mental health problems
  5. Category of referral

On receipt of the referral, the client will initially be given an appointment to see Dr. Dymock, University medical adviser. The purpose of this is to medically review the client to rule out any other reasons for their difficulties and to ensure that mental health nursing referral is appropriate. If the referrer is the client's own GP or Psychiatrist, screening by Dr. Dymock will not be carried out.

Verbal referral may be made in cases or urgent need but these must then be followed up with a written referral.

Mental health nurse

Fiona Grant, Health Service, 1 Cross Row, University of Dundee

Telephone number: 01382 384168 (Internal Ext: 84168)

Fiona works part time, and so you might not always be able to contact her immediately. If you leave a message, your call will be returned as soon as possible.

Indicators for referral

Examples of specific disorders/mental health problems which would indicate referral to this service, and their referral priority rating are listed below:

Priority 1 - 'Urgent'

Priority 2 - 'Routine'

Concerns regarding:

Undiagnosed/unmanaged psychotic illness

Severe neurotic illness

e.g. anxiety neurosis

OR

A mental illness which has not been given a specific label but has been significantly affecting the client's ability in the following areas for periods which may vary between months and years:

OR

People who are experiencing symptoms which are not severe but which cause significant and persistent psychological distress and, if not assessed and treated, may lead to severe and/or enduring problems.

Examples:

In summary, clients thought to be at risk of harming themselves or others, or being harmed, within the context of a mental health problem, should be regarded as a priority 1 referral and all others will be priority 2. Priority 1 referrals will be seen within one week of the referral being received. Priority 2 referrals will be seen within one month of receipt. If this is not possible for any reason, the referrer will be advised of this by the health service on receipt of the referral.

Nature of intervention

On first contact with the client, the following will be discussed:

The assessment process may last between one and three sessions after which the outcomes are discussed. This includes the findings of the assessment and what happens thereafter. There are a number of possible outcomes:

Other roles

As well as actual clinical work with clients, this service hopes to provide educational and advisory roles. This may include the following activities: