Intensive Home Treatment Team for Older People

Our team follows the five step process of

1. Assessment
2. Formulation
3. Intervention
4. Evaluation
5. Discharge

Two members of our team will undertake urgent assessments within four hours. Referrals for home-based treatment will be seen within 24 hours.

We’ll then begin our ‘formulation’ which brings together all available information that might be important. It is a useful way of developing a shared understanding of the presenting issues and supports the identification, planning and implementation of the most appropriate course of action for a person at that time.

Once we’ve completed formulation, there are lots of plans or ‘interventions’ that the IHTT could put in place. These include:

• Practical support – such as help with benefits, housing, Telecare and meaningful day activities
• Support for carers and families to relieve stress
• Medical Assessment, treatment and monitoring – including medication review
• Psychological therapies which can be provided within a short timeframe – for example anxiety management and mindfulness.
• Supported self-management and coping strategies.

We’d then look to evaluate these interventions before discharging people into the care of the service they may have previously been under, or back to their GP.

Involving families and carers

It is essential to involve family and carers and our service works to the principles of the Triangle of Care, in that:

• Carers play an essential role in a person’s recovery
• They should be identified at first contact or as soon as possible afterwards
• Staff are ‘carer aware’ and trained in the best way to engage with you as a carer
• Policy and practice protocols regarding confidentiality and sharing information are in place
• Defined posts responsible for carers are in place

A carer introduction to the service and staff is available, with a relevant range of information so that carers can become familiar with everything that is important to you and the person you care for.

A range of carer support services is available by embedding these principles into the work we do we can start to build positive relationships between ourselves, service users and the friends, families and relatives that provide care for them.

 

This section is for health and care professionals looking to make a referral to the Intensive Home Treatment Team (IHTT) for Older People.

IHTT will be responsible for the triage and assessment of all referrals deemed urgent and appropriate for older people’s services that require an assessment within four hours of the referral being made.

Referrals will be discussed with the shift coordinator between the hours of 8am-9pm (Between 9pm and 8am referrals will be triaged by CRISS).

How to refer

For external referrers, such as from GPs, adult social care, Leeds Community Healthcare, Leeds Teaching Hospitals etc., please access the IHTT via our Single Point of Access.

Internal LYPFT referrals from CMHTs, Inpatients, Care Homes Team and Liaison Psychiatry should be discussed with the shift coordinator (where possible) and then referred on electronically to the IHTT duty desk.

Referral criteria

• Service users who fit the overarching referral criteria for the older people’s community services and require an urgent assessment of their mental health needs, including dementia or suspected dementia, where risk to self or others is of concern.
• Service users with acute mental health needs, including dementia and suspected dementia that require a period of intensive home based treatment, to attempt to prevent hospital admission or facilitate early transfer from a hospital setting.
• The service user can be safely cared for in the community.
• The service user is willing to engage (where possible) with the service.
• The service user is registered with a Leeds GP.

Referrals will be accepted according to need, vulnerability and/or risk and not just age, although we expect to see people aged 65 and over predominantly.

Access to service for known service users and carers

IHTT is available to known service users and carers via the SPA number if they are actively ‘in service’ and are currently receiving care via the locality CMHT, who can contact the SPA for additional support out of working hours. In hours those people would be directed straight to their locality team.

The IHTT is based at The Mount Hospital. They work closely with our older people’s inpatient services which are also based there.

Teams also spend a lot of their time situated out in our three community localities (West, East and South) working closely with our older people’s community services.

The service operates extended hours of 8am to 9pm, seven days a week, 365 days a year. In between the hours of 9pm and 8am referrals will be managed by our Crisis Resolution Intensive Support Service (CRISS). Any urgent assessments between these hours will be carried out by CRISS.

The team includes Mental Health Nurses, Occupational Therapists, Psychiatrists, Psychologists and Therapists, Associate Practitioners, Health Support Workers, Dietetics and Pharmacy.

If your health professional has given you a direct contact in times of crisis, please continue to use that contact.

We recommend the following places where you can find helpful and reliable information with links to further help and support.

MindWell website

MindWell is the single ‘go to’ website for information about mental health in Leeds. It includes advice on practical help with things like housing, benefits or money problems.

The National NHS website

The national NHS website (formerly known as NHS Choices) is the official website of the National Health Service in England. It provides a comprehensive health information service helping you to make the best choices about your health and lifestyle, but also about making the most of NHS and social care services in England.

For less urgent health needs, you should contact your GP or a local pharmacist in the usual way. For immediate, life-threatening emergencies, always call 999.

Please note this is not comprehensive list of services but a few suggestions of how to get started finding help and information.

The Intensive Home Treatment Team is based at:
The Mount
44 Hyde Terrace
Leeds
LS2 9LN
Tel: 0113 8559318
Switchboard: 01138555000