Freedom of Information Request – Ref: FOI 285-2025
Thank you for your recent Freedom of Information request. Please find our response below.
You asked:
1. How long approximately is the wait list (e.g. number of weeks) to obtain an assessment by the CMHT and would this be by a consultant psychiatrist or their specialist trainee?
Our response:
People accepted for assessment would usually initially be offered an Initial assessment by a qualified clinician within 28 days for a routine assessment. If indicated, it could be with Consultant or specialist trainee.
You asked:
2. Are there criteria used to accept a rereferral onto your Community Mental Health Teams to have a care co-ordinator and provide treatment? If you have criteria, please can you supply them?
Our response:
There is no specific criteria for re-referral to the CMHT’S (Recovery as we’re still operating as). For a re-referral we would be wanting to ascertain any unmet needs that may be ongoing or new and whether they can be best addressed within recovery or whether any identified needs could be better met by other services i.e. VCSE etc
You asked:
3. How long approximately is the wait list to obtain (a) a psychological assessment and then (b) how long is wait for CBT for OCD/BDD in secondary care (e.g. number of weeks)?
Our response:
This will be hard to quantify as the timing of a referral to CPI will vary in response to different factors i.e. CPI may advise the person would benefit from completing initial interventions i.e grounding techniques with their care coordinator. Once a referral has been made and agreed with CPI there should be a 4 week wait for an assessment with a 16 week timeframe for intervention but again there is going to be significant variation across the localities with being able to adhere to these timeframes due to capacity and demand and resource – Our psychological services routinely see 90% people for assessment within 4 weeks, and for 90% of people who require treatment this starts within 16 weeks.
You asked:
4. What is the documented or expected care pathway (e.g. do they have to be seen first by the CMHT and then referred by the CMHT for secondary care psychological therapies or can the referral be done directly by the Talking Therapies or GP for example)?
Our response:
Currently, the pathway to CPI is via the recovery teams. There has been situations where cases have been discussed and flexibility has been found within the system to support people with CPI needs and little need for recovery – Our secondary care psychological professionals work as an integrated part of our Community Health Recovery Teams and do not have a separate referral pathway. Referrals from GPs or NHS Talking therapies should be directed to the relevant locality Recovery Team who offer multi-disciplinary assessments.
You asked:
5. Do your policies or procedures indicate that any alternatives offered to CBT with ERP, for people in the above scenario, e.g. a different type of psychological therapy?
Our response:
We follow NICE recommendations which indicate that Cognitive Behaviour Therapy including Exposure and Response Prevention is the indicated psychological intervention for OCD. At present NICE guidelines recommend that there is as yet no convincing evidence for the clinical effectiveness of other treatments.
You asked:
6. Has your team made a referral to tertiary services for OCD/BDD in the last 5 years a) under the Highly Specialised Service stream of funding or b) under local funding?
Our response:
The NHS has a national inpatient OCD service based at Springfield Hospital in Tooting. Clients from Gloucestershire have been supported by GHC to access this NHS service in the past 5 years. This service is funded by the NHS and so does not routinely require local funding.
Next steps:
Should you have any queries in relation to our response, please do not hesitate to contact us. If you are unhappy with the response you have received in relation to your request and wish to ask us to review our response, you should write to:
Louise Moss
Head of Legal Services / Associate Director of Corporate Governance
c/o Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust
Edward Jenner Court
1010 Pioneer Avenue
Gloucester Business Park
Brockworth, GL3 4AW
E-mail: louise.moss@ghc.nhs.uk
If you are not content with the outcome of any review, you may apply directly to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for further advice/guidance. Generally, the ICO will not consider your case unless you have exhausted your enquiries with the Trust which should include considering the use of the Trust’s formal complaints procedure. The ICO can be contacted at: The Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.