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Mental Health Support Team for Homeless People - Referrers Guide |
The Mental Health Support Team for Homeless People (MHST) was established in 1989. The Team is based in the voluntary sector and is part of Nottingham Hostels Liaison Group (HLG). The MHST has been nationally recognised by both the Department of Health and the Social Services Inspectorate. The Team is funded by the Nottinghamshire Health Care NHS Trust, Nottingham City Council, Department of Health and Nottinghamshire County Council. The MHST consists of, one full-time Service Manager; one Team co-ordinator; three full-time and four part-time mental health workers including a part-time worker with special responsibility for rough sleepers who complements specialist rough sleeper services. The team accept referrals from a wide variety of sources including G.P's and other healthcare professionals, hostels, nightshelters and day centres.
Its aims are:-
· To provide assessments, social care and support to homeless people with a mental health difficulty, in particular those people using emergency, direct access provision.
· To extend channels of communication between statutory and non-statutory agencies, to share knowledge and experience, thereby increasing access to appropriate advice and support services for homeless people with a mental health difficulty.
· To identify, monitor and evaluate gaps in service provision and to feed back information to the appropriate authorities/services.
We plan to fulfil these aims by working closely with colleagues from both statutory and voluntary agencies, and with a flexible needs led approach to our service users.
Multi-Agency Working
The MHST maintains regular contact with statutory and non-statutory
agencies.
The Team holds fortnightly multi-agency meetings with representatives from statutory health providers.
The purpose of this multi-agency meeting is to exchange information as appropriate on individual cases, organise care planning when two or more agencies are involved, and ensure overall that relevant information is shared with and between voluntary organisations working with homeless people and statutory health providers.
The Team also chairs a fortnightly meeting for workers in direct access and day centre projects. This meeting provides a forum for the sharing of concerns and risk information between projects supporting the same/similar groups; and allows for care planning between projects to avoid duplicating support/advice/referrals.
Drop-in
The primary purpose of drop-ins is a first opportunity for service
users newly referred to the team to find out what we may be able to
offer, and for team members to begin the assessment process.
Ordinarily following a fairly brief initial assessment a follow-up
appointment will be offered usually within a week, where a service
users needs will be discussed more fully. During times when the MHST
team member is not seeing newly referred people at drop-ins they will
use drop-in time to make themselves available to other users of the
host project, who may request advice or sign-posting or may take the
opportunity to self refer to the team for ongoing support.
The latest times and venues for our drop-in sessions are as follows (at July 2006)
Tuesday:
YMCA* (residents
only)
10am -11.30am
London Road Project*
(residents only)
7pm – 8.30pm
Wednesday:
Handel Street
11am –
12
noon
St
Peter’s Church (by M&S)
11am – 1pm (rough sleepers only)
Thursday:
Sneinton House (Salvation Army Hostel)
10am
–11.30am
Emmanuel House Day Centre 12.30pm
-1.30pm
Friday:
The Friary Drop In (West Bridgford)
11.30am – 12.30pm
London Road Project*
(residents only)
11.30am - 12.30pm
* Residents only
Keyworking
Usually a
service user will be keyworked by the team member who they first see
at a drop-in session. However, all requests for specific workers
would be considered and where for instance a potential user requested
a worker of a specific gender we would try to accommodate that
request. Demands on team members' time may also sometimes necessitate
transfer from the initial assessor to another team member for
keyworking.
A keyworker may offer a variety of different types of support which broadly fall into the following areas:-
· Someone to talk to about difficulties such as stress, anxiety, depression, self-injury, bereavement, relationships or problematic alcohol or drug use and the impact homelessness is having on an individual.
· Support to access primary healthcare services where appropriate, including G.P.s, NADT, CPN for Homeless People, CMHTs and nursing services
· When appropriate an assessment of support needs and help to access or acquire funding for specialist housing such as a rehabilitation project
· Information and sign-posting to information on education, leisure, volunteering or other forms of support e.g. self help groups
Referral On
Following assessment a keyworker may feel a person's needs would be
best met by another agency the person would be referred on in this
case. Usually it is appropriate to end contact when a person becomes
linked in with another service although joint working is sometimes a
possibility when an individual's needs are complex and where
professionals involved have clearly defined roles and
responsibilities.
How to Make a Referral to the MHST
Telephone Referrals
If you are referring someone who uses a service where we provide a
weekly drop-in or who is a rough sleeper, we are glad to accept
referrals by telephone. We request that you have available the
following information
Date of birth
Presenting difficulties (be as specific as you can)
Any present or
previous contact with the MHST or other support/treatment agency
Previous whereabouts/last address and length of time at current
project
Any potential or known risks to themselves or others
Whether or not the person has requested the referral
A referral should, whenever possible, be discussed with the person concerned well in advance. This gives referrers an opportunity to discuss more fully the support the MHST can offer. A referral should never be made without a homeless person’s knowledge unless there is an obvious risk in doing so. Furthermore the users of our service do so on a voluntary basis, therefore we require that contact with the team is not made a condition of residency.
Written Referrals
Other
projects or secondary hostels or dispersed housing providers for
homeless people are required to refer in writing. A copy of the
referral form comes with this document for your information. Please
copy this as required should you wish to make a referral.
click here to download MHST Referral Form
The MHST aims to see all people referred as soon as is possible, usually within a week of allocation. Written referrals will be discussed and allocated at our weekly Tuesday (pm) meeting. During busy periods those in direct access projects and those in greatest need will be prioritised. However, if a situation is deemed to be an emergency we will respond to a telephone referral. Again, the information required will be as listed above.
Resource on Homelessness/Training
By working closely with a broad spectrum of the homeless population
and a wide variety of support, treatment and housing agencies, the
MHST have a unique overview of movement/trends and changing needs
within the "homeless community". This overview is of immense value to
agencies throughout the City. The MHST is not only a focus point for
referrals of homeless people, but it is also recognised as a valuable
information resource about homelessness, the subcultures which exist
within it and the resources available to help homeless people. The
MHST are represented at a number of planning meetings and reference
groups ensuring that the needs of homeless people are considered and
included in current and future developments and strategies.
Duty Worker
The MHST have a named daily duty worker. This worker will be
available to offer advice and signposting to service users or agencies
requesting information and be able to respond to an emergency if
required. They are contactable via the main office number (0115 9565
313).
Open Sessions
These sessions - which happen six weekly – provide an opportunity for
the MHST to explain in greater detail the work they do and a forum for
those attending to raise questions or ask for advice. New workers in
hostels and day centres or anyone interested in mental health and
homelessness may find these open sessions useful. To book a place
contact any team member on 956 5313.
05 July 2006
Ref: F:\MHST\OMHSTwhat.doc