Attached Staff

Clinical Psychologist - Amy Manshershaw

A Brief Guide to Clinical Psychology Services at Lister House

What is a Clinical Psychologist?

A Clinical Psychologist is a psychology graduate who undergoes three further years of training applying their psychological knowledge to the problems people have. Clinical Psychology is a chartered profession requiring uniformly high standards of practice. A Clinical Psychologist is not a medical doctor and cannot prescribe medication but is trained to help you understand your own personal experiences and make links between past and present events and feelings. She can discuss with you how you respond to different situations and help you find alternative solutions.

How can I get to see a Psychologist?

Your doctor will discuss with you the possibility of seeing a psychologist. The doctor will give you a form to fill in which you will return to the surgery and be given to the psychologist. This is entirely confidential. The form will ask you about your worries but you may decide to leave it blank and simply return it with your name and address.

What kind of problems do people see psychologists about?

Personal difficulties which are simply more intense versions of troubles that a lot of people experience to some degree in their lives. Most people have times of feeing anxious or depressed, but if it goes on for a long time or does not improve, then people may want to talk about it in more depth.

A major life event such as bereavement, redundancy, accident or divorce, may bring up intense feelings that may be too difficult to cope by yourself.

Relationship and sexual problem, feeling jealous, domestic violence.
Family stresses and worries that do not seem to resolve themselves.
Long standing feelings that sometimes feel out-of-hand and interfere with your life.
Traumatic events in childhood such as sexual, physical or emotional abuse.
Eating disorders and weight related issues.
Lack of confidence and self-esteem.
Phobias, panic attacks, irrational fears and compulsive thoughts and behaviours.
Persistent physical symptoms with no identified medical basis.

What will the Psychologist do?

At the first meeting, the Clinical Psychologist will listen carefully and together you will decide what the best way forward is. She will offer you further sessions only if this seems to be the best option of dealing with your particular needs. She will not read your mind but will encourage you to explore and communicate things, which may be difficult but will help you understand them better later. Seeing a psychologist is not a miracle cure but will require you to take responsibility for working together in a joint effort to tackle your problems.
Once the psychologist and you have decided that it would be helpful to talk about your problems, she will arrange a specific number of sessions over a period of time (usually 4 sessions lasting 50 to 60 minutes). If you need more time that is available, then you and the Psychologist will be able to discuss the best way to achieve this.

How long will I gave to wait?

The Psychologist will contact you within a week or two of receiving your request form. The aim is to send you an appointment as soon as possible, but as there is heavy demand for this service there may be a short delay before you are seen. However, every effort is made to assess your specific concerns as promptly as possible.

If you have any queries, your GP will be able to discuss them further with you.

Physiotherapists

Marlene

Lorraine

Lister Medical Centre boasts two physiotherapists who work at the surgery on a sessional basis most Tuesday mornings. One of them also undertakes private work while the other also works at the local hospital.

They provide a range of treatments to appropriate patients registered at this surgery who have been referred by one the the doctors.

In addition, the practice has the ability to refer patients directly to the physiotherapy department at the local hospital (although at present the waiting list is long).

Dietician

Dieticians are employed to provide practice based sessions for GP patients. Dietary advice for hyperlipidaemia (raised cholesterol) and diabetes are the most common reasons for referral. In comparison, the role of the hospital dietician has evolved largely to provide nutritional support to the malnourished and for acute referrals e.g. cardio-protective advice following a myocardial infarct.

The demand for dietary advice is increasing for a number of reasons but notably National Service Frameworks (NSFs) for coronary heart disease (CHD), the elderly and the increasing incidence of type 2 diabetes. The number of newly diagnosed diabetics seen by dieticians has increased locally by 94% since 1998. There is a much greater awareness of the link between diet and health both amongst health professionals and patients.

The practice based service is in danger of becoming 'diabetics' only but there are many other conditions requiring dietetic services as part of or all of treatment, to help relieve symptoms or to promote a healthy lifestyle.

Prioritisation of referrals is already happening in some practices. Long waits for appointments are common. As a result, many patients cannot access dietetic services and others 'give up' due to the long waits which exacerbate non-attendance. Hospital dieticians still see consultant referred Harlow patients which impacts on their ability to provide services to those in hospital. Type 2 diabetes is increasing along with an increased incidence of obesity. Dieticians are trained to counsel patients with a view to making appropriate lifestyle changes with regard to diet and exercise. Follow up is essential yet often unavailable due to lack of appointment times thus reducing effectiveness of the intervention.

Harlow residents come from all social backgrounds but there are a number of areas of social deprivation which are linked to poor nutrition, obesity and the development of CHD and type 2 diabetes. These people have limited budgets to spend on food and require expert guidance to help them choose affordable yet healthy foods for them and their families which also fits in with their dietary aims.

Unfortunately, there are three practices in West Essex (all in Harlow) who have more than 300 patients per dietetic session with Lister Medical Centre being second worse with 397 patients per dietetic session.

Hopefully, priority will be given to increasing sessions to this practice with further consideration being given to bring the dietetic session ratio down to less than 150.