Supporting patients throughout your care with Psychiatry UK

When you contact Psychiatry UK with a question or concern, the Patient Support Team is often the first team you’ll speak to.

Behind every referral update, appointment query, titration question or prescription concern is a group of people helping patients to find answers, feel reassured, and understand what happens next.

The team supports patients throughout the whole process – from referral right through to shared care – helping people navigate what can sometimes feel like a confusing or overwhelming process.

Whether it’s answering questions about waiting times, helping someone complete their forms, or supporting a patient who is distressed or struggling, the team plays an important role in making sure people feel listened to, informed and supported.

 

Where this team fits in your care

The Patient Support Team helps with questions and concerns at every stage of care, including:

  • Referral processing.
  • Pre-assessment support.
  • Appointment queries.
  • Titration and medication questions.
  • Shared care queries.
  • General reassurance and signposting.

Unlike many teams who support patients within one specific part of the care pathway, the Patient Support Team stays involved throughout the whole process.

Team Lead Claire Uttley explains:

“Our team is quite unique because we support people throughout their whole experience with Psychiatry UK. We might speak to someone before their referral has even been processed, and still be supporting them after they’ve moved into shared care.”

 

 Helping patients find answers and reassurance

A large part of the team’s work involves helping patients understand what’s happening and providing reassurance when things feel uncertain or unclear.

Patient Support Specialist Tom Burrett is one of a team of advisors supporting patients with questions across every stage of care.

“A lot of the conversations we have are with people who are worried, unsure what happens next, or just need somebody to explain things clearly,” Tom says. “Sometimes it’s about waiting times or prescriptions, and sometimes it’s simply about helping someone feel heard and supported.”

The most common questions the team receives are about assessment and titration waiting times, progress with their referral, and practical issues relating to forms, appointments, and prescriptions.

 

 Supporting people through waiting times

Waiting for assessment or medication treatment is one of the main reasons patients contact the team.

Tom explains that many people reach out because they’re struggling while they wait and want reassurance that they haven’t been forgotten.

“Even when we can’t change waiting times, we can still help people understand where they are in the process and what support may be available while they wait,” he says.

The team also helps patients with practical concerns, such as completing pre-assessment forms or preparing for appointments.

“Sometimes people don’t realise the forms are completed digitally and think they need to print them out and upload them again,” Tom explains. “Often, a quick conversation can relieve a lot of unnecessary stress.”

 

Keeping information clear and up to date

Alongside speaking to patients directly, the PST works closely with teams across the organisation to make sure information stays accurate and up to date.

Quality and Performance Coach Ryan McGee supports advisors with training, updates, and more complex queries, while also working with wider teams to help maintain clear and consistent communication for patients.

“Things can change quite quickly across different parts of the patient pathway,” Ryan explains. “A big part of our role is making sure advisors feel confident in the information they’re giving, so patients receive clear and consistent answers.”

Senior Patient Support Manager Anthony Bliss oversees staffing, service planning, and the day-to-day running of the support centre.

For Anthony, consistency is especially important because patients are often already feeling anxious or overwhelmed when they get in touch.

“It’s important that people receive the same clear information whoever they speak to,” he says. “A lot of our work focuses on communication, training, and making sure the team feels supported too.”

The team also looks for opportunities to improve services and communication. Advisors can raise common patient frustrations, share ideas and suggest improvements through an internal ‘You said, we did’ board. Feedback is shared with leadership teams and other pathway teams so that these improvements can be put directly into practice.

 

What does a good day look like?

For Team Lead Claire Uttley, a good day is one where patients feel genuinely listened to and supported.

Each morning begins with a team briefing, where advisors are updated on changes to processes and patient information so they feel confident answering questions and supporting patients effectively.

“When the team feels confident in the information they’re giving, conversations with patients tend to feel calmer and more reassuring too,” Claire says.

Positive feedback from patients – whether through surveys, live chat, or Trustpilot reviews – means a great deal to the team.

“It’s always meaningful when someone takes the time to say they felt supported,” she explains. “A lot of people contact us when they’re stressed or overwhelmed, so knowing we’ve helped make things feel a bit easier is really important to us.”

 

 When compassionate support matters most

Although many patient queries are routine, the team is also trained to recognise when somebody may need urgent additional support.

Claire recalls one situation where a distressed patient contacted the team and an advisor became concerned that the person may be at risk of harm to themselves and others.

Because of the close working relationships across teams, the advisor was able to contact the Liaison Nurse Team directly rather than following the standard process. This meant support was put in place within an hour.

Claire believes moments like this reflect the team’s values in action:

“We’re quite a small and close-knit team, and that allows us to respond in a very personal way. Advisors know they can ask for support if they’re dealing with a difficult situation, and that helps us make sure people get the right support as quickly as possible.”

The experience also highlighted the strong support between teams across the organisation, with the Liaison Nurse Team later checking in on the wellbeing of both the patients and the advisors involved.

 

 What makes this team special

Based at a dedicated support centre in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, the Patient Support Team combines practical knowledge with a strongly patient-centred approach.

Many team members – or members of their families – have personal experience of the assessment and titration process themselves, giving them additional understanding of what patients may be feeling when they reach out for support.

Even on very busy days, the team works hard to make sure every patient still feels listened to as an individual.

For Claire, that human connection is what matters most:

“People often contact us when they’re anxious, frustrated, or unsure what happens next. Even small conversations can make a real difference to somebody’s day, and that’s something the whole team genuinely cares about.”

Their work helps patients feel informed, reassured, and supported throughout every stage of their care.