Referrals to the Primary Care Mental Health Service

The Primary Care Mental Health Service has now rolled out to all surgeries in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.The table below shows the process for referral in Primary Care Mental Health Service surgeries.

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Referral	Process
For adult mental health (aged 17-65)	Refer to the Primary Care Mental Health Service through the NHS e-Referral system from your clinical system
Patient in mental health crisis requiring immediate telephone triage or a response within 24 hours	Patient should be referred to contact the First Response Service by calling 111 and option 2. Professionals only can call 111#2 or call 01480 442007
Older people's mental health referrals	All older people’s mental health referrals should be made via eRS. Please call 01480 420178 or e-mail cpm-tr.opmhreferrals@nhs.net if you have any queries.
Children’s mental health referrals	Continue to use the existing process of referring to Children’s SPA

The Primary Care Mental Health Service offers appointments to people in clinics held within GP surgeries. The system through which people access the service will be through their GP who will refer appropriate people. 

We are using the e-referral system. As this is a system the majority of GPs are already familiar with, and is a simple process, we hope this will support a smooth transition. The e-referral system has been chosen to ensure greater security of a patient referral, for the purposes of meeting information sharing, governance and audit requirements and supporting future CQUIN requirements.

Our project team has been visiting all surgeries and been collating some of the questions raised by GP surgeries. You can find a list of these Q&As at the foot of this page.

If you have any questions, please e-mail cpm-tr.prismservice@nhs.net.

Request for service reminder

The Request for Service form contains an additional question around consent. We are asking the patient whether they consent to having an SMS message sent to them confirming their appointment. If this consent is not given, then the patient will be contacted by an alternative method such as a telephone call or e-mail. GPs should gain and tick the consent box on this form. If this box is not ticked, we will be unable to see or contact the patient. Please could you also ensure you gain consent from your patient if you wish to discuss their case with the Primary Care Mental Health Service team outside of MDT meetings.