Adult and older adult community mental health team – referrer information

Adult and older adult community mental health teams across England will be working towards a new National 4 week wait to treatment standard.

The four weeks starts from the date the referral is received by the community mental health team and stops when the service user is classed as receiving treatment.

To support the referral and avoid any delays for the patient, we ask that referrers ensure:

• Advice is taken from primary care mental health workers (where possible / available), about the appropriateness of the referral or whether they are better suited to provide support. This should be done before any referral is sent to secondary care.
• Consideration is given to where the patients’ needs would be best met e.g. with IAPT, secondary mental health care or a voluntary organisation.
• Referral information is completed fully to avoid any delays to a patient accessing services / support.
• Physical health checks and updates provided to community mental health teams as early as possible.