Patient Information

Most of our sessions are completed one-to-one. However, our service offers a number of patient groups which may be beneficial to you. If your practitioner believes that a group treatment plan may best suit your needs, they will discuss this with you during your initial assessment.

The number of sessions will depend on what type of help you’re getting from us. Most face-to-face, virtual or telephone therapies take 6-8 sessions to complete. But some treatments may require more sessions, and some may require less. Your practitioner will explain how many sessions they think you will need.

If you still need help or support once your sessions have come to an end, your practitioner will talk to you about potential next steps.

Face-to-face, virtual or telephone sessions typically take 40-50 minutes to complete, depending on the type of therapy being offered. Please tell your practitioner if this feels too much and they will work with you to agree and move at a pace that feels more comfortable for you.

If you are having face-to-face, virtual or telephone sessions, sessions will usually take place weekly or fortnightly between 9am and 5pm, Monday to Friday. At your initial assessment, your practitioner will talk to you about what days/times suit you best.

Face-to-face appointments are usually held in Carlisle, Cockermouth, and Copeland. But we also provide sessions in other locations across North Cumbria. Many of our therapies can be offered via video call and over the telephone, so you may not need to travel if this would cause you some difficulty. Our service does not routinely offer home visits.

At your initial assessment, your practitioner will talk to you about where your therapy could take place. Please tell us if:

• You will struggle to travel to an appointment.
• You have any access needs that we need to consider i.e. a ground floor room, ramps, elevators, etc.
• You need your appointments to be on a particular day/time.

Yes. Family members, friends or advocates of your care are welcome to accompany you and participate in your individual appointments.

For group sessions, we ask patients to attend on their own. This is to protect the privacy of the other group members. If this is not possible, please discuss with the group facilitator or your named practitioner.

Yes, usually. We try our best to make sure you will have the same practitioner at every session. If your practitioner feels that a different practitioner or another type of therapy might be more helpful, then they will discuss this with you.

No, we are not trained to prescribe medicines. You should contact your GP if you have any questions or issues with your medication.

If you are unable to attend an appointment, please call us on 01768 245954 to let us know as soon as possible. For you to get the most out of therapy, it’s important that you attend your sessions regularly. If you cancel several appointments, your practitioner will discuss this with you.

Any information shared during your appointment will remain strictly confidential, unless your clinician believes that yourself or those around you are at risk of harm. In this case, your clinician has a duty of care to act in order to ensure your safety. Your practitioner will discuss this with you in this case.

For more information, please see here .

For more information on confidentiality for family and carers, please see here .

A brief summary of what has been discussed at each appointment will be recorded on our own secure patient recording system and can be accessed by other members of your care team, and your GP, if needed. We also routinely share necessary information with other professionals actively involved in your care, including your GP. Please notify your practitioner if there is anything you would prefer not to be shared.

For more information, please see here .

Sometimes there are problems in therapy that we need to work through. You might:

• Have trouble doing the work between sessions.
• Struggle with coming to your appointments.
• Not be getting on with your practitioner for some reason.

It is important that we work through these problems. We do not want you to feel that you cannot continue with therapy.

If you feel able to, please talk to your practitioner. If you do not want to talk to your practitioner about the problem, then you can raise it with our central team by calling 01768 245954.

We aim to provide the highest standards of care for people using our services. You will routinely be asked for feedback both during and at the end of your care episode. If you have any compliments, concerns, comments or complaints about your experience of using our services, we would be glad to hear from you.

Alternatively, the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) can take a verbal compliment, concern or comment from you regarding the services that you have been receiving. You can contact PALS using any of the following methods:

Mail: PALS, Cumberland Infirmary, Newtown Road, Carlisle, CA2 7HY

Telephone: 01228 814008

Freephone: 0800 633 5547

Email: PALS@ncic.nhs.uk

For more information on our compliments and complaints procedures, please see here .