In our latest case study, Dorset HealthCare Community Mental Health Nurse Angela Jones talks about how her team use the Dorset Care Record
I work as a Community Mental Health Nurse within a Community Mental Health Team and we support people over the age of 65 who have mental health problems such as dementia, depression, anxiety and schizophrenia.
Most of the referrals to our team come via Primary Care and this is where having access to the Dorset Care Record (DCR) has had the most positive impact on the team’s working practice. In order to process these referrals in a timely manner, DCR allows us to obtain accurate, up to date information from the patient’s health records.
From DCR we can glean information such as whether they have had a recent review by their GP. It also allows us to check current medication and past medical history. We can also check to see if all physical health investigations, such as recent bloods, have been taken. This is important as sometimes there may be an acute physical reason which may be impacting on their mental health.
We also use DCR to obtain other important background information which may not have been included in the referral letter, such as next of kin details, ethnicity and other medical information such as any recent involvement with other health professionals or the general hospitals.
I use DCR on a daily basis and have found it extremely user friendly. Having DCR has greatly benefitted the way in which we triage referrals as we can now gather all of this information quickly without needing to contact the GP surgery directly. DCR allows us to gain a holistic understanding of the patient’s overall wellbeing and current physical health status, which will in turn help to inform our assessment of the patient’s mental health needs.
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