Homerton Psychological medicine (HPM)
What is HPM?
We are a team of psychiatric liaison nurses (PLNs), liaison psychiatrists who provide mental health advice and clinical cover for Homerton patients, we cover A & E and all the wards 24hrs a day 7 days a week, urgent referrals only 5pm-9am. The service also includes a full-time clinical psychologist in keeping with the standards for a Core 24 service as defined by current guidelines for Liaison Psychiatry Services.
What do we do?
We complete full psychiatric and clinical psychology assessments; this includes, but is not limited to, an opinion on diagnosis, management, risk and (if it relates to a psychiatric condition) decision making capacity. If indicated we undertake ongoing reviews on the wards and offer brief psychological interventions on medical wards where there is no embedded psychology. On discharge we can link people to community psychiatric services and primary/secondary care psychological services, if needed. Specialist clinical psychological assessment and brief interventions are also offered to individuals not known to other mental health services with first presentations of deliberate self-harm. We do all of this whilst keeping patients at the heart of what we do.
Our team also offers teaching and formal and informal consultation to healthcare professionals working in HUH with the aim of promoting psychologically-informed healthcare to individuals with acute or chronic physical health conditions and we are currently involved in a pilot looking at reducing frequent attendances to A&E (High Intensity User Service).
What don’t we do?
Routine capacity assessments, but we will get involved if capacity assessments are complex or involve psychiatric pathology.
What other mental health services are there in Homerton?
There are specialist psychologists in Diabetes, Haematology (Sickle cell& Thalassaemia), Sexual Health Services, COPD, Stroke, Acquired Brain Injury & Neurorehab (Inpatient/Community), Cancer & Palliative care, Locomotor Pain (including ME/CFS) service and the Women’s Health service. Our service maintains very close links with these services and will often offer consultation and facilitate ongoing referrals.
We also have an integrated Learning Disability service based in the community and there is a specialist LD nurse and dementia specialist nurse based in the hospital.