Older Age Mental Health Services

A general psychiatric assessment is usually a 50-minute appointment with a psychiatrist, who is both a medical doctor and a trained mental health professional and member or Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

In this case, your psychiatrist will be specialised in working with older adults.

This allows for a full mental health assessment which involves talking about the problems you are currently experiencing and how these, among other factors, have affected you throughout your life.

The difficulties discussed may relate to depression, anxiety, adjustment disorder, bipolar disorder, psychosis, memory problems and dementia, including complex presentations of dementia which will be assessed within the context of your physical health and any medication and substance use.

Your psychiatrist will also ask you about your symptoms’ origins, what may have precipitated them now and possibly strategies to best manage them in future. It is also likely you will be asked how you are managing in broader areas of your life such as social environments, as well as some aspects of your family’s medical history.

A psychiatric assessment is an opportunity for you to gain clarity on factors that may be contributing to your presenting difficulty and working towards a personalised plan to improve this with the support and guidance of a mental health expert.

Our Older Age service is led by Consultant Psychiatrists Dr Ruth Cairns and Dr Flora Greig, and they conduct all our Older Age Psychiatric Assessment sessions.

The cost for a 50-60 minute initial appointment is between £500-£520 depending on clinician.

Contact our team by emailing patientservices@sloanecourtclinic.com, who will be happy to help, and guide you through the process of booking your assessment.

The Mental Capacity Act (2005) is designed to protect people who may lack mental capacity to make decisions about care and treatment for themselves and to ensure that these decisions are made in their best interests. It applies to people aged 16 and over and may include, but is not limited to, those with dementia, a brain injury or those who have experienced a stroke.

Following a set of criteria outlined in the MCA Code of Practice, our psychiatrists are able to complete assessments of decision-making capacity in relation to treatment, health and welfare decisions that may be required to make Lasting Power of Attorney or Court of Protection arrangements, or to help facilitate treatment in the person’s best interests.

To read more about capacity assessments in more detail, please click here to see our specialised page.

Our Older Age service is led by Consultant Psychiatrists Dr Ruth Cairns and Dr Flora Greig, and they conduct all our Older Age Capacity Assessment sessions.

Our Older Age Capacity Assessments are structured as an initial 50-minute appointment, with a 30-minute follow up if needed. The prices for these are £500-£520 for the initial appointment, and £270-£285 for the follow up.

Contact our team by emailing patientservices@sloanecourtclinic.com, who will be happy to help, and guide you through the process of booking your assessment.

The word 'dementia' describes a set of symptoms that over time can affect memory, problem-solving, language and behaviour. There are different forms of dementia, with differing underlying disease pathologies. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common type of dementia, followed by vascular dementia, dementia with Lewy bodies, Parkinson’s disease dementia, and frontotemporal dementia.

A dementia assessment will include: 90 minutes; structured as a 60-minute appointment and then a 30-minute follow up at normal hourly rate

The psychiatrist will speak to the person seeking the assessment about their concerns to establish whether there is a history of symptoms that are suggestive of dementia. This will include questions about their day to day functioning as well as memory and language difficulties.

Where possible, the psychiatrist will also speak to a relative or close friend (it is helpful if they can accompany the person to the appointment) to hear what they have noticed and whether they have specific concerns.

The assessment also includes an assessment of the person’s mental state to ensure that they do not have symptoms of depression, anxiety or other mental health disorder that is treatable and might be impacting on the person’s cognition. The assessment will include a standardised cognitive assessment (either out of 30 or 100 marks) that is a validated screening test for dementia.

Depending on the findings from the history, mental state examination and cognitive assessment, the psychiatrist will advise whether an MRI brain scan is advised as this can provide information about the cause of the person’s cognitive impairment if it is present. The scan would be arranged as a separate appointment and a follow-up appointment would be made at Sloane Court Clinic to discuss the findings once the report was available.

If a dementia diagnosis is subsequently made, the psychiatrist will discuss the person’s suitability for treatment with cognitive enhancing medication, or medication for non-cognitive symptoms of dementia including anxiety, sleep disturbance and low mood.

Information will also be given about options for psychological and practical support, for the person and their relative / carer. Further discussions can be offered about planning for the future around Health, Welfare and Finance decisions.

Our Older Age service is led by Consultant Psychiatrists Dr Ruth Cairns and Dr Flora Greig, and they conduct all our Dementia Assessment sessions.

The cost for the Dementia Assessment is structured as £500 - £520 for the initial 60-minute appointment, and then £270 - £285 for the 30-minute follow up.

Contact our team by emailing patientservices@sloanecourtclinic.com, who will be happy to help, and guide you through the process of booking your assessment.

After any initial appointment with a psychiatrist, most patients will be asked to return for at least one follow-up appointment with the same psychiatrist to further discuss a treatment plan and check in on their mental health since the previous session. Patients are encouraged to be active contributors to their treatment and will be able to ask questions to ensure all aspects of it are attainable.

Our Older Age service is led by Consultant Psychiatrists Dr Ruth Cairns and Dr Flora Greig, and they conduct all our Older Age follow-up sessions.

The cost for a 30 minute follow-up appointment is between £270-£285, depending on clinician.

Psychological work is also offered to family carers, who often carry significant emotional and psychological stress.

Caring for someone with dementia is often compared to marathon training: at times it can be overwhelming and painful, and you might feel like giving up, but learning to pace yourself through self-care and finding purpose, even in the face of the most difficult times, can help you go the distance.

Following a dementia diagnosis, carers may experience anticipatory grief, role changes, and relational strain increasing the risk of developing poor mental health. Post-diagnostic therapeutic interventions can help carers process their experiences, maintain connection with their loved ones, and sustain their own wellbeing.

Whilst everyone’s caring journey will differ there are core skills and strategies that you can learn to help you along the way, irrespective of the stage of your loved one’s dementia.

There is a lot that can be done to improve quality of life for both carers and their loved ones, drawing on strengths to overcome and creatively manage challenges as they arise.

We draw on a wide range of psychological approaches, based on contemporary research, to tailor our work to meet different individual and carer needs along the dementia journey.

Our Older Age Psychological Service is led by Dr Michelle Hamill, and she provides all our Older Age Psychological Support Services.

Fees available on request.

Contact our team by emailing patientservices@sloanecourtclinic.com, who will be happy to help, and guide you through the process of booking your assessment.

We offer a broad and diverse range of evidence based psychological interventions across emotional, physical, and relationship concerns that can present in later life, from mild to more complex presentations.

Our specialist skills in later life mental health presentations also includes cognitive and general health-based co-morbidities, as well as those related to neurodegenerative conditions.

We are experienced working with mood and anxiety-based conditions, stress and adjustment, PTSD and complex trauma, grief and bereavement, low self-esteem, relationship-based difficulties, and challenges at times of life transitions (e.g. long-term health conditions and illness, retirement). We can also offer interventions for family members adjusting to a caring role in the context of changing health presentations in later life.

Drawing on evidence-based therapeutic techniques, we take an individually tailored and bespoke approach that is integrative, collaborative, and holistic to help clients gain insight into their challenges, develop healthier coping mechanisms, and promote personal growth and resilience.

We are trained across a variety of psychological approaches including but not limited to Cognitive Analytic Therapy (CAT), Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprocessing (EMDR), Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT), and Narrative Therapies along with Mindfulness Based and Neuropsychological approaches.

The first few appointments make up the assessment phase of therapy and where the psychologist seeks out the necessary background information and formulates a plan. From then, the duration and frequency of sessions will vary based on the psychological therapy used but, in most cases, they will take place once a week for 50 minutes.

Our Older Age Psychological Service is led by Dr Michelle Hamill, and she provides all our Older Age Psychological Support Services.

Fees available on request.

Contact our team by emailing patientservices@sloanecourtclinic.com, who will be happy to help, and guide you through the process of booking your assessment.

We offer both online and in person appointments at the clinic.

We would ask that you let us know at the time of enquiring whether you have a strong preference for either, so that Patient Services can send your referral over to the appropriate clinicians, as not all of our clinicians offer in person appointments.

If you are unsure whether your appointment will take place online or in person, do check with Patient Services and they will confirm this with you.

For patients who are unable to leave their homes, we would recommend opting for virtual appointment.

In exceptional circumstances where this is also not possible, we may be able to arrange for a home visit from our psychiatrist. We will be able to advise as to fees at the time this is arranged.

We do have an accessible room with no stairs so please do relay your preference for this when booking in so we can ensure your appointment is held there.

It can be very useful to have a family member/partner present, as it provides further information on a patient’s presentation and symptoms.

This is especially the case where the patient’s memory may be in question, or they are their carer. If someone does accompany the patient, they do not need to come into the entire appointment but will be invited to join for certain parts.