County access for talking therapy easier thanks to new service, say health bosses

Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Talking Therapies brings together Midlands Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust’s existing Talking Therapies teams in the county into one, fully integrated service with a single point of access.

It offers a range of treatment, including Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) and counselling, alongside guidance and information.

Anyone aged 16 plus who is registered with a Shropshire or Telford and Wrekin GP, and is not currently being seen by another mental health team can access the service without needing to see their GP.

Self-referrals can be made online via the service’s web page www.mpft.nhs.uk/stwtt or by calling 0300 1236020.

When accessing the website, patients will also have the option to use the Limbic Referral Assistant, a robot assistant – or 'chat bot' – that can help them self-refer to the service.

The assistant will gather all the necessary information from the patient to enable the service to create a new referral, and will offer a range of options to book for an initial assessment appointment.

Caroline Dugen-Williams, clinical lead for the service said: “This is a big step for NHS Talking Therapies services in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin and we’re hugely excited to have launched the new service.

“The team has worked very hard over the past few teams to prepare for the launch; and as part of this we’ve dramatically improved access times into the service, with assessments currently being provided within two to four weeks of a referral being made.

“It’s quick and easy to make a self-referral and you don’t need to see your GP in order to do so.”