The Consultant Psychiatrist was asked to give an overview of the Bailiwick’s wellbeing after more than a month in lockdown with both Deputies Gavin St Pier and Heidi Soulsby previously highlighting how important it is to be aware of mental health during the covid-19 crisis.
Dr Bishop said all mental health services are operating as normal – but they are operating in different ways to normal with face to face sessions reduced where possible, and staff wearing PPE where a face to face appointment is necessary.
He also said the island’s mental health services “are busy, but we’re not overwhelmed”.
“There’s been no reduction at all to the service of those who are in acute need but like all other parts of the service, since the start of this process we’ve been very aware that we need to plan for the worst while hoping for the best,” he said.
Dr Bishop said as well as continuing all services for patients, the mental health staff have been overseeing their colleagues across health and social care to ensure their mental well being during the pandemic too.
That work comes under the Healthy Minds scheme.
“(that) is the primary care psychology team that delivers talking therapies to those with mild to moderate mood disorders and they are still working with all their existing clients and they’re still taking new referrals…they have changed the way they’re working, by necessity so they’re working remotely via whatever their client wants and is appropriate.
“Secondary care, we’re still working, all parts of our service are still open, that’s the medical outpatient clinics, psychological therapies, the community teams but again we are working in a different way. That being said, if necessary we are still seeing people face to face, including if they’re in isolation, but obviously we’re using full PPE.”
Any new referrals which come through now, are filed in one of two ways – urgent referals are being dealt with immediately, while any which GPs feel can wait will be referred once lockdown restrictions have been relaxed further.
Dr Bishop said that was to enable the mental health services to deal with an expected increase in demand, as they were all very aware that “the population as a whole could be really affected in terms of our well being by the current crisis and we’ve been especially concerned about the frontline services including the health of staff both in the hospital and in the community.”
Anticipating a decline in the mental wellness of staff, a working party was set up when the covid-19 outbreak was declared in Guernsey to help any one who was struggling.
Despite assigning senior staff to each clinical area, Dr Bishop said they haven’t been overwhelmed. He said that is reflected among the wider population who he says have on the whole dealt with the lockdown “really, really well”.
“That is in no small part due to the trust they formed in the people sat here today,” he said.
Pictured: The panel at Friday’s media briefing (l-r) were Paul Whitfield, Deputy Heidi Soulsby, Deputy Gavin St Pier, Dr Nicola Brink and Dr Dominic Bishop.
“Personally and professionally it’s been really difficult to predict how individuals will respond to lockdown and the potential threat. Some of the people we’ve been most worried about, people say with major mental illness living on their own who are relatively isolated, have actually coped incredibly, whereas people who have been stable for years have decompensated, and I think that’s why it’s so important, not just from our service, but from the whole community we all check in with each other on a regular basis and make sure they’re ok and they’re coping.”
Pictured top: Dr Dominic Bishop.