Urgent Care & Assessment Team

The Urgent Care and Assessment Team to ensure that a timely and responsive assessment is provided by our multi-disciplinary team. This may result in an urgent short term work either as home treatment, on an individual basis in Primary Care, or through psychological based group work.

Type

Urgent Care and Assessment Team

The Urgent Care and Assessment Team aims to make sure a responsive assessment is given by our multi-disciplinary team to service users in Northamptonshire.

This can result in urgent short-term access as a home treatment, or signposting / referral to the most appropriate service to support service users with their needs.

Who is this service for? This service is for adults in Northamptonshire.

Contacting us and opening hours

Referral to this service is by a healthcare professional only.

UCAT South - 0300 11 11 004

UCAT North -  0300 11 11 005

Services are open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

I need urgent mental health help

How do I register for this service?

Referral to this service is by a healthcare professional only.

Why have I been referred to UCAT?

People are referred to the Urgent Care and Assessment Team (UCAT) because they or somebody else has raised concerns about their mental health and it was felt an assessment was necessary.

It may be that they are experiencing common mental health problems, emotional distress or a mental health crisis. This could take many forms but most often occurs when our normal ways of coping break down. This can lead to feeling overwhelmed, out of control and in some cases suicidal.

What happens once I have been referred to UCAT?

After receiving a referral we will contact you to discuss the individual's needs and plan an initial assessment if this is needed.

The assessment will be arranged at an agreed time and location. During this assessment individuals are asked questions about their mental and physical health history, thoughts and feelings, life experiences, lifestyle, goals, medications and substance use. They will also have the opportunity to ask questions.

If the assessment shows that we are the appropriate team to help the individual, a care plan will be agreed with them. This may be provided through the team's home treatment workers. As a team we will discuss how best to support the individual, which may include onward referrals to other services.

About us

The Urgent Care and Assessment team is multi-disciplinary in nature. Within the team, there are a range of professionals with different skills and levels of training to benefit the service provision.

The service provides the following commissioned functions under one umbrella:

  • Urgent mental health assessment
  • Home treatment

What can I expect from the Urgent Care and Assessment Team?

  • Short term interventions
  • Psycho-education
  • Frequency of contact dependent on level of need
  • Review and/or initiation of medication as required
  • Symptom management
  • Mental health promotion including information and self-help
  • Build on individual's strengths to promote independence
  • Problem identification and achievable goal setting
  • Management of emotional distress
  • Building emotional resilience
  • Information and education to be provided to family and carers
  • Self-directed recovery plans

Meet the team

The Urgent Care and Assessment Team is a multi-disciplinary community based team which consists of a range of professionals with different skills and training.

Together we provide an integrated, holistic, recovery-focused service working closely with community mental health teams, inpatient services, primary care services, mental health liaison and GPs, as well as other local agencies.

The team may include:

  • Operations manager
  • Clinical team leaders
  • Psychiatrists
  • Community mental health and learning disability nurses
  • Occupational therapists
  • Social workers
  • Psychologists
  • Assistant psychologists
  • Support workers
  • Administrative and clerical staff

Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (NHFT) is a training Trust, so from time to time students from all disciplines may be involved in care, though this does not affect service users' confidentiality or treatment.

Reviews and feedback

Feedback is a gift. It lets us know when we are doing well and helps us to develop and improve when we are not meeting your needs.

You can leave feedback on our service by completing one of our online surveys. Please choose the survey for the area where you live.

North Northamptonshire UCAT feedback

West Northamptonshire UCAT feedback

 

Mental health, learning disabilities and speciality services

  1. Acute Liaison Mental Health Service
  2. Adult ADHD, Autism and Tourettes Team (AAATT)
  3. Adult Inpatients Acute
  4. Adult Inpatient Low Secure
  5. Adult Inpatient Specialist
  6. Adult Inpatient PICU
  7. At Risk Mental State Service
  8. Community Mental Health Adult - Early Intervention N’Step
  9. Community Mental Health Team
  10. Community Mental Health Transformation
  11. Complex PTSD service
  12. Criminal Justice Liaison and Diversion Team
  13. Crisis cafés
  14. Crisis Response Unit
  15. Crisis Houses: The Warren and The Martins
  16. Custody Healthcare Team
  17. Eating Disorders Service
  18. ECT and Ketamine Therapy - The Treatment Centre
  19. Forensic Team
  20. Gender Identity Clinic
  21. Health Based Place of Safety
  22. IPS Employment Service
  23. Learning Disabilities
  24. Northants Personality Disorder Hub
  25. Liaison Psychiatry for Older People
  26. Maternal Loss Psychology Service
  27. Memory Assessment Service
  28. NHS Northamptonshire Talking Therapies
  29. Older Adults Community Mental Health Services
  30. Older People’s Inpatient Acute
  31. Peer support service
  32. Police Liaison & Triage
  33. RECONNECT - Care after custody
  34. rTMS - Centre for Neuromodulation
  35. Recovery College
  36. Secured Services
  37. Serenity Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC)
  38. The Mental Health Number
  39. Specialist Perinatal Mental Health Service
  40. Urgent Care and Assessment Team
  41. Younger Persons with Dementia Team
  42. Recovery College NHFT