In a recent radio interview, UK Health Radio asked how widely understood rTMS – Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation treatment is in the UK medical community.
Dr Neal explained that this is still relatively new:
“Most doctors in the country don’t know much about this treatment, so most general practitioners and most psychiatrists don’t have much expertise in this area of treatment. There are very few practitioners in the UK that know anything about it.”
Self-Referral for TMS Treatment
With low awareness in the medical community, the presenter enquired about how patients could access treatment through self-referral. Dr Neal replied:
“We’re happy for people to self-refer themselves to our clinic for a discussion about the treatment. We’re obviously quite happy for them to discuss it with their own treating psychologists/psychiatrists or GPs.
“We’re more than happy for people to self-refer, because we are aware that generally in the country there’s not much knowledge about it and they probably need to speak to us to get a proper understanding of the risks and benefits…
“We certainly keep their teams informed – yes – we write letters to them at the beginning and end of treatment and make sure there’s continuity of care between the treatment we’re providing and the treatment they’ve got provided anywhere else; but we are quite happy for patients to have treatment with us if they’re already undergoing treatment with other psychiatrists or psychologists or general practitioners elsewhere, so we’re happy to treat people concurrently with whatever they’re having from some other source.”
Screening assessment includes completion of a variety of forms, as well as a verbal discussion to understand past and ongoing treatments to ensure that the patient is suitable for treatment.
Dr Leigh Neal – TMS on UK Health Radio
UK health radio specialises in publishing informative and relevant health topics and ran an extensive feature on rTMS with interview with Dr Leigh Neal.
You may also find these items of interest:
How rTMS Works and Side Effects
Dr Leigh Neal explains how rTMS – Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation – actually works.
“…we stimulate the brain through the left frontal region, so that’s the left area just above the eye. We know that that particular area of the brain doesn’t work as efficiently in patients who’ve got a depressive episode and we know that from brain scan studies.” Read more →
rTMS for New Depression Diagnosis
Dr Leigh A Neal, Consultant Psychiatrist and Medical Director at Smart TMS in London, explains how repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) treatment would be offered to patients with a new diagnosis of depression and where TMS fits in with psychological treatment or antidepressants.
This was discussed in a recent interview on UK Health Radio’s Sunshine UKay Health Show. Read more →
Dr Leigh Neal Talks rTMS on UK Health Radio
UK Health Radio’s Sunshine UKay Health Show interviewed Dr Leigh Neal about rTMS – Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation.
Dr Neal explained the background to rTMS treatment, which was invented in Sheffield in the 1980s and has been subject to a lot of research before entering mainstream use for treating depression. Read more →
DR LEIGH A NEAL MD FRCPSYCH
Dr Leigh A Neal is a consultant psychiatrist and Medical Director of Smart TMS, a London-based clinic offering Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation – a non-medication-based mental health treatment.
He has been a Consultant Psychiatrist for over 20 years with a career including work within the Armed Forces, NHS and Independent Sector.
SMART TMS CLINICS
Smart TMS is a specialist provider of TMS treatment in London. Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation therapy (rTMS) is a technological breakthrough in the treatment of depression with a variety of further potential treatment applications.
Smart TMS is located within The Smart Clinics in South Kensington/Brompton Cross.
CONTACT US
For any queries or to book an appointment, please contact us:
Tel: 0345 222 5678
Email: info@smarttms.co.uk