Referrals for Psychology/IAPT/Talking therapy should be sent on e-RS/Choose and Book. Patients can, of course, self refer to these services.

If you would like your patient to be seen by the Primary Care Liaison Psychiatry Service please email the referral (PCL is not available on e-RS/Choose and Book). We would prefer that you used our referral form. You can use the links below to download our referral forms from our dropbox download area.

• Vision Compatible Form
• EMIS Compatible Form

Aside from our age and address criteria most patients seen by GPs will be suitable.

Patients who pose an immediate risk to themselves or to others are not suitable for our service.

The RWS service is not able to see patients in their own homes.

Patients who are suffering with acute mania or active psychosis should be referred to the CMHT (We can, of course, help advise on treatment once stable and discharged from the CMHT)

Patients need to be able to attend sessions free from the effects of drugs and alcohol to benefit from therapy in the IAPT service. For cannabis, this requires abstinence from cannabis for one month. We have a specific course to help those self-medicating with cannabis to reduce their use. This can be a stepping stone to therapy. Drug and alcohol addiction should not be the primary problem (if so refer to Community Drug and Alcohol Team)

Patients who are currently under the care of the CMHT should continue to receive the CMHT’s input. Once discharged from the CMHT we will be happy to see them if they are suitable.

There are a number of specialist services that may be more appropriate for your patient.

Patients who pose a risk to themselves or to others should be referred to the CMHT. Likewise patients who are suffering with acute mania or active psychosis should be referred to the CMHT (We can, of course, advise on treatment once stable and discharged from the CMHT). The CMHT also provides a number of specialist services.

We will see patients 18 and over.
There is no upper age limit. However, if cognitive decline is a problem, cognitive therapies are unlikely to be possible. The Older Adults Psychiatry service/Memory clinic is more appropriate.

IAPT Services Patients can self-refer to IAPT services on 020 3513 4455 or on the self referral “Get Started” pages of this site. A GP referral is welcome though, particularly if there are facets of the presentation that you feel may be helpful to explain directly to us. This can be sent on e-RS/Choose and Book. A “cut and paste” of your consultation note is usually fine. You don’t need to type up a formal letter.

A GP referral is required for the Liaison Psychiatry Service. PCL is not available on the e-RS/Choose and Book system so please email the referral to richmondwellbeing@swlstg.nhs.uk. A “cut and paste” of your consultation note is usually fine when sent with some indication of relevant past medical/psychiatric history. You don’t need to type up a formal letter but giving the team a clear indication of the question or help that you require is important to us.

Once the patient has been discharged from the CMHT they should not be re-referred back to the CMHT unless there is an acute risk to themselves/others or they are suffering with acute mania or active psychosis.

In all other cases (which will make up the majority), the patient should be referred to RWS. If the patient needs a psychiatrist the PCL service is appropriate. If the patient needs psychology the IAPT service will be able to help.

The Wellbeing Service clinicians have access to the RiO computerised notes system that the local CMHT uses. They will be able to see past history, medication etc.

We see patients in a number of community venues and can often see patients in the GP’s own surgery or one close by. We can provide support virtually and by telephone. We can’t, though, visit patients in their homes.

The RWS rents rooms in surgeries and a number of other community venues for our therapists to run our courses and to see patients one-to-one. It is often also possible for our Primary Care Liaison Psychiatry staff to come to your surgery on an ad-hoc basis to see an individual patient. Contact us, or mention this in your referral if this would be useful.

If you have a room spare in your surgery that you would like to rent on a regular basis to the service please contact us on 020 3513 4455.

So long as the patient is not currently being seen by the CMHT, this is exactly the sort of thing that the Primary Care Liaison Psychiatry Team is for. You can either do a referral or just pick up the phone and ask to speak to a psychiatrist 020 3513 4455. One of our psychiatrists will be pleased to advise you. If not immediately available it is really helpful if you can leave a mobile number to call you back on to save “message ping-pong”.

A list can be viewed or printed from here.

There are a number of specialist services that may be more appropriate for your patient. They include:

• The Community Drug and Alcohol Team
• The Eating disorders Service (we can accept mild body dysmorphic disorder)
• The Adult ADHD service
• We have no upper age limit. However if Dementia and cognitive decline is the problem, cognitive therapies are unlikely to be possible. The Older Adults Psychiatry service/Memory clinic is more appropriate.

Please call us on 020 3513 4455 or send an email to richmondwellbeing@swlstg.nhs.uk. Download our Richmond Wellbeing Service Leaflet or our leaflet on our long term conditions program LTC info letter.