National Inpatient Centre for Psychological Medicine

Leading centre changes name to reflect national status

The Yorkshire Centre for Psychological Medicine has changed its name and is now called the National Inpatient Centre for Psychological Medicine (NICPM).

The NICPM is based in the Brotherton Wing of Leeds General Infirmary and is a specialist inpatient psychological medicine unit, with a diverse and expert team delivering biopsychosocial care for people with severe and complex medically unexplained symptoms and physical/psychological comorbidities. The name has been changed at the suggestion of NHS England and the Department of Health, to better reflect the established national function of this service.

The Centre’s service is provided by Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and has a history over many years of delivering services within Leeds and West Yorkshire, but since 2009 has been able to accept patients from across the UK. It is unique within the NHS, and is now acknowledged as the leading national centre for the treatment of severe and complex medically unexplained symptoms, as cited in recent guidance from the Joint Commissioning Panel for Mental Health.

Dr Peter Trigwell, Consultant and Clinical Lead at the NICPM, explains more about the name change:

“We’ve been successfully delivering this unique service to people from across the UK for over eight years now, and it’s important that our status as the national inpatient centre is being recognised in our name. It’s also important that this has the backing of a number of organisations including the Department of Health, NHS England, and the Liaison Psychiatry Faculty of the Royal College of Psychiatrists.”

“I’m really proud of the work we do here. Our clinical outcomes, even in a range of very chronic and complex cases, are very good and patient feedback is very positive. This is possible thanks to our highly dedicated and expert team and our close work with general hospital services within Leeds General Infirmary and the wider Leeds Teaching Hospitals.”