Terms and Conditions

Welcome to Impact on Teesside, the Psychological Therapy and Wellbeing Service covering the Teesside area. This service is delivered in partnership by Alliance Psychological Services Limited and Middlesbrough & Stockton Mind.

Within this document, we have outlined what you can expect from your sessions, your practitioner and Impact on Teesside as a service. We have also provided local emergency contact information. Please take some time to have a read through this and contact us if you have any questions.

Your Assessment Appointment

The purpose of your assessment is to gain an understanding of what issues and problems you are experiencing and to identify what help and support you may need. Assessment appointments are usually conducted over the telephone. Please allow up to 45 minutes in a quiet confidential space for your assessment. If you are no longer able to attend the appointment, please let us know ASAP so that we can free this slot for someone else and reschedule your appointment. Unfortunately, there may be occasions where we need to rearrange your appointment, we will do this by contacting you on the telephone number you have provided, and we will aim to rebook another appointment for you as soon as we can. If you do not attend your assessment appointment without letting us know in advance, you will be discharged from our service. Please be assured that you can re-refer at anytime in the future should you need to.

Following your assessment, your practitioner will discuss your treatment options with you. If Impact on Teesside can meet your needs, your practitioner will make an initial plan for treatment with you, which may include a 1-1 intervention, groups and workshops or digital and online support. There is a wait for some of our treatments and we may be able to offer you self-help support where appropriate whilst you are waiting, which includes access to our online portal which has an array of videos, resources and activities that you can access at any time.

What to Expect from Therapy/Wellbeing Sessions

Session information - Sessions vary between 30-60 minutes and take place at an agreed time and venue. We can also complete sessions over the phone or online/digitally. The number of sessions will be agreed with your practitioner depending on your needs and tend to occur either weekly or fortnightly. Appointments within a group setting will be at an agreed venue and we also offer digital groups to those with online access.

Availability – We try our best to offer appointments that match your availability so you can attend regularly but you should be aware that this may lead to a longer wait for some times such as evenings. We will offer you up to three appointments to begin your therapy sessions.

If you cancel or fail to attend these, we may need to discharge you back to your GP's care.

Attendance– For therapy and support to work well, sessions need to be attended regularly.

If you know you cannot attend a session, please contact us as far in advance as possible on 01642 573924 or appointments@impactonteesside.com. If we have any concerns regarding your attendance, we will contact you to try and resolve any problems promptly. However, repeated cancellations or missed appointments may result in you being discharged from the service. This is to ensure that everyone receives a fair, effective, and timely service.

This would not prevent you from accessing the service again in the future.

Patient Health Questionnaires – We routinely use patient health questionnaires (mood questionnaires) to help us assess the level of difficulties you are experiencing. This can also help us agree the best treatment options. You will be asked to complete these questionnaires at most appointments. This helps you and your practitioner to see how you are progressing throughout your treatment. Many of these questionnaires can be submitted securely online through our portal ahead of your appointment. If you have consented to us contacting you by email, you will receive these questionnaires from us 2 days prior to your appointment via email. Some questionnaires are not available in this format and will need to be completed during your appointment, but this will be discussed with you if this applies.

Confidentiality & Data Security

All staff working within Impact on Teesside have a lawful duty to keep information safe and secure, and to ensure confidentiality is maintained. Your practitioner will keep notes about what happens during your appointment and what treatment you are receiving. Notes are stored on a secure online system that only our staff can access.

You are entitled to see the information we hold about you. You can request a copy of your records by making a request in writing either by email, post or in person by completing a request form. A copy of your records will be made available to you as soon as possible and within 1 month from us receiving your request.

Your Information and How We Use It

It is standard practice throughout the NHS that services inform the Department of Health about patient/service users’ care and support. Only outcome and statistical information is shared, clinical notes are not part of this information shared with the DoH. This helps to ensure that patients are offered the best possible treatment and helps to improve patient care. If you want to know more about what we do with your data, please contact the service via email on enquiries@impactonteesside.com or visit our website www.impactonteesside.com/terms privacy/which contains more details on the information we collect and how it is processed.

Information Sharing

All staff working for or on behalf of the NHS are required to abide by strict professionals’ codes of conduct and everyone has a legal duty to keep information about you confidential. It is important that information is shared with other NHS services involved in your care to ensure the treatment and support you are receiving is appropriate in meeting your needs. This means that staff involved in your care at Impact on Teesside will share information with your GP about your care unless you have declined for us to do so. We would only share information with other organisations when there is a genuine need for them to know. This may also include people who provide care to you from organisations other than the NHS. They too have a legal duty to keep this information confidential.

We also need to let you know that on some occasions we are not able to keep confidentiality, for example if we become concerned about your safety or the safety/wellbeing of another person. Where possible, we will discuss this with you beforehand and consider what steps are required to provide the support necessary to ensure the safety and wellbeing of you and/or others, to address child or adult safeguarding issues.

Transfer to another service

Some Impact on Teesside patients need help that we are not able to provide. In these cases, we aim to transfer you to other services as smoothly as possible. This may involve us passing relevant information about you to other services such as the Community Mental Health Teams. We may also request information from other services if you have previously been under their care to help us identify the most appropriate treatment option for you.

Feedback

We value your feedback and would like to hear about your experience within the service. We hope you will have a positive experience throughout your time in the service and would love to hear about this. We recognise the value of you experience and would welcome your suggestions and ideas on how we can improve. If you would be interested in attending focus groups or being involved in service improvement initiatives, please let us know.

If you wish to make a complaint, you can discuss this with your practitioner, contact our admin team by ringing the main phone number, or contact us by email or in writing. A senior member of staff will then help to resolve your complaint and keep you informed throughout.

Further Support

If you find that you are struggling whilst waiting for treatment to begin, please do contact us as you may be able to access some of the other options mentioned above. Alternatively, you can access your GP for support or call one of the helpline numbers below.

Emergency Local Support Services

If you are feeling unsafe or in emotional crisis, please book an appointment to see your GP as soon as possible or call NHS 111 for advice. If you feel you require more immediate support, you can contact any of the below phone numbers or visit the Crisis Assessment Suite. This is situated at Roseberry Park Hospital, Crisis Assessment Suite, Marton Road, Middlesbrough, TS4 3AF.

Samaritans – 116 123 (freephone) – Samaritans provide confidential, non-judgemental emotional support 24 hours a day, 365 days a year for people experiencing distress or despair.
SHOUT text service – text 85258 this is a 24/7 text service, free on all major mobile networks, for anyone in crisis anytime, anywhere. You will receive a response to help support you.
Crisis Team –0800 051 6171 If you are feeling in crisis, please contact your local crisis team for support. They can speak to you over the phone and may come out to visit you or ask you to attend at the hospital for support.

Thank you,

The Impact on Teesside Team