Prompt Assessment of Needs
In November 2017, St Patrick’s Mental Health Services introduced a free Prompt Assessment of Needs Service to improve how we assess referrals in order to improve speed of access.
Since 2017, referrals received for the Dean Clinic free-of-charge assessments are transferred into the new Referral and Assessment Service, where an experienced mental health nurse assesses the referral through a Prompt Assessment of Needs.
Service users can access this prompt needs assessment from their own home, without the need to travel to a clinic, allowing for both a more prompt and efficient mental health assessment and ease of access to assessments for service users. It also allows for a quicker onward referral to the most appropriate service.
A range of communications technologies including telephone and audio-visual technologies such as ‘Skype’ or ‘FaceTime’ are used to provide the assessment. The choice of communication with the Referral and Assessment Service will be based on the preference of the service user.
If you have any queries, please contact the Referral & Assessment Service on 01 249 3635 or you can contact our switchboard out of hours on 01 249 3200.