There are a number of practitioners and provisions that are available for people with schizophrenia and generalized anxiety disorder. These practitioners and provisions have different routes of access; this includes professional referral, self referral and third party referral. Professional referral means when a professional such as a general practitioner (G.P) refers you to a specialist or to another service which would benefit the patient more for the condition. Self referral is where the person who wants to access a service will attend themselves such as booking an appointment to see the G.P. Third party referral is where a family member or a friend will refer the person to a service such as making an appointment on their behalf.
General practitioner
General practitioners (G.Ps) are based at your local surgery or practice. General practitioners are often the first point of contact …show more content…
GPs provide a complete variety of care within the local community: dealing with problems that often combine physical, psychological and social components. They increasingly work in teams with other professions, helping patients to take responsibility for their own health. GPs call on an extensive knowledge of medical and mental health conditions; such as schizophrenia and generalized anxiety disorder, GPs will then be able to assess a problem and decide on the appropriate course of action. They know how and when to intervene, through treatment, prevention and education, to promote the health of their patients and families. Many patients who experience psychotic symptoms consult their GP which therefore is putting the GP in a prime position to identify the problem early and make a prompt referral. The two main facets to early detection a GP will follow is: identifying individuals with prodromal symptoms before the