Abstract
The Royal College of Psychiatrists (1991) has recommended that all local mental health services should include specialist psychotherapy departments. At present these are uncommon outside major teaching centres, although a considerable amount of simple psychotherapy is provided on an ad hoc basis by mental health professionals of various disciplines. This paper describes the structure, functioning and costs of a specialist department in a non-teaching district in the south west of England.
Highlights
The Royal College of Psychiatrists (1991) has recom mended that all local mental health services should include specialist psychotherapy departments
The Exeter Psychotherapy Service forms part of the mental health services provided by the Exeter and District Community Health Trust for a catchment population of approximately 300,000
The Psychotherapy Service is based in Exeter at Wonford House Hospital, which is on the same site as the local district general hospital, and serves as the main administrative and in-patient centre for the district's psychiatric services
Summary
The Royal College of Psychiatrists (1991) has recom mended that all local mental health services should include specialist psychotherapy departments At present these are uncommon outside major teaching centres, a considerable amount of simple psychotherapy is provided on an ad hoc basis by mental health professionals of various disciplines. For the delivery of psychiatric care, the district is divided into six localities (four rural, two within the city), each of which has a multidisciplinary com munity mental health team operating from a cen tre within the locality These teams provide a con siderable amount of simple psychotherapy, and some teams include professionals who have had training in a particular psychotherapeutic ap proach (e.g. cognitive therapy, family therapy etc.).
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