Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (HPFT) provides access to primary care psychological therapy services in Hertfordshire. Hertfordshire Talking Therapies is part of the NHS Talking Therapies, for anxiety and depression initiative, offering free confidential talking therapy and practical support for residents.
Our service is available to anyone over the age of 16 who is registered, or intending to be registered with a GP in Hertfordshire. We triage and assess clients in a timely and professional manner. Our team of experienced therapists will work with patients to understand their challenges and equip them with tools and techniques to manage their difficulties.
We offer a wide range of evidence based psychological therapies to treat common mental health problems. Conditions we treat include depression, stress and the full range of anxiety disorders which includes generalised anxiety disorder (GAD), panic disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), health anxiety and social anxiety.
Our team have received specialist training to deliver evidence based interventions for people with comorbid long term physical health conditions (LTCs). LTCs can have a life-changing impact on an individual’s wellbeing, functional capability and quality of life. Comorbid LTCs and depression and/or anxiety disorders result in increased use of other healthcare services and increased physical healthcare costs. For these reasons, it is essential to ensure that both mental health and physical health care needs are met effectively.
NHS Talking Therapies, for anxiety and depression services are most suitable for those experiencing the recent onset of any common mental health problem. Patients with severe, complex or chronic mental health difficulties, or those who are at high risk of harming themselves or others, are likely to benefit more from specialised secondary care services. The Single Point of Access can advise on patient suitability for Hertfordshire Talking Therapies if you are unsure.
Our service offers a range of treatment options to help patients make positive changes in their lives and improve overall wellbeing. We also provide interventions remotely including interactive webinars, group sessions and 1-1 therapy delivered via telephone, online video conference or a combination of both.
The majority of our treatment options are based on Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). This is a structured therapy where patients set goals which matter to them and work on making changes to patterns of thought and behaviour in ways which will help them move towards those goals.
Cognitive behavioural therapy is the first line, NICE recommended treatment of choice for depression and anxiety. However CBT might not work for everyone and our therapists will therefore consider at point of assessment whether another, evidence based treatment might be more appropriate.
No, our experience is that access to therapy at the earliest opportunity can have an enormously positive impact on a person’s wellbeing.
Early intervention translates to better recovery rates and lower relapse rates and importantly can stop a patient from requiring medication. By equipping patients with a set of evidence based skills we can stop problems from escalating and becoming severe.
Please refer to the 'making a professional referral' section for more information about making a professional referral for your patient to our service.
If you are aware of someone that would benefit from our support, you can help in a number of ways.
- Complete the Professionals referral form on behalf of your patient with their consent, please click here.
- Support your patient to access our website to access self-help materials including live webinars or make a self-referral, please click here.
- Provide our self-referral booklet and support your patient to complete the form before returning to us using the freepost address, please click here.
- Contact our Single Point of Access to make a referral: 0800 6444 101
Our experience has been that patients with a history of risk or even current suicidal ideation might not always be forthcoming with this information. This may compromise our ability to accurately determine the level of risk they are presenting with and for us to deliver the right level of care. Therefore we would ask all healthcare professionals:
- That if you have any concerns or knowledge about risk (current or historical), you submit a professionals’ referral, where your concerns about risk are made explicit;
- That patients are only encouraged to self-refer if there is no evidence of significant risk (current or historical).
Our service is not able to provide immediate support in crisis. If a patient needs help in a mental health crisis the following support is available:
If a patient is in crisis and needs help, please dial NHS 111 and select the option for mental health crisis. You will be connected to a contact centre where trained staff will provide appropriate support and advice 24 hours a day.
You also can call our Single Point of Access (SPA) freephone number: 0800 6444 101 which is open 24/7. SPA also offers live webchat, click here for more information.
Additional contacts:
- Samaritans: whatever you’re going through, you can call Samaritans any time (24/7), from any phone for free. Call 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org (response time: 24 hours).
- Shout: a free 24/7 text service, for anyone in crisis anytime, anywhere. Text “SHOUT” to 85258.
- Sane out of hours helpline Tel: 0300 304 7000 from 4.30pm - 10.30pm every day.
The expectation set by NHS England for NHS Talking Therapies Services is that 75% of people who are referred or self-refer to NHS Talking Therapies Services are seen within 6 weeks of referral. In Hertfordshire, we are consistently achieving and exceeding this target.
Our services are focused on delivering highly effective therapies. Our clinical recovery rates consistently exceed the national target of 50%, and we are proud of the high levels of satisfaction expressed through patient feedback, making us one of the highest performing NHS Talking Therapies teams in the East of England.
The Accreditation Programme for Psychological Therapies Services (APPTS) is a service development, quality improvement and accreditation network for services providing psychological therapy to adults in the UK.
Hertfordshire Talking Therapies was one of the first NHS Talking Therapies, for anxiety and depression services in the UK to achieve accreditation status with the Accreditation Programme for Psychological Therapies Services (APPTS) and was closely followed by the Mid Essex service. As well as identifying and acknowledging services that have high standards, APPTS, a partnership between the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ Centre for Quality Improvement and the British Psychological Society, provides a network through which best practice can be shared.
For our service users, this means you can be confident your treatment will be managed and delivered to the highest possible standards by professionally trained, fully qualified staff working within a responsive, effective and compassionate environment.
