Minds Matter - Frequently Asked Questions

Minds Matter is a name used by the local, highly respected charity, MCH Psychological Services, and is also the charity behind one of the Island’s other leading mental health charitable organisations, Isle Listen. Minds Matter has helped many people and their families on the Island suffering from long-term conditions, with mental health and wellbeing support for nearly 40 years and was formerly better-known as The Lisa Lowe Centre and Manx Cancer Help.

The charity has long been aware of the difficulties faced by people trying to access mental health support, either for themselves or for their children, and with the growth in its service, it today operates, along with Isle listen, from a very warm and welcoming therapy suite at Skanco Court, Cooil Road, Douglas and their Community Suite at The Old School House in Cronkbourne.

The team understand that some people may feel nervous when seeking therapy and have worked extremely hard to make sure that any visit to its therapy suites, will be a positive experience that they will be happy to engage with.

MCH Psychological Services is an organisational member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and Minds Matter adheres strictly to its ethical framework. As an organisation, they follow and frequently surpass National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines around supervision for their therapists and counsellors.

Even before the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020 waiting times for some psychological therapies on the Isle of Man were unacceptably lengthy and this has been exacerbated further by the pandemic. When Manx Care came into existence it made a commitment to reduce waiting lists across a number of clinical specialities including the CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service). 

It’s important to make it clear that this approach is not replacing mental health support from the either CAMHS nor the Community Mental Health Service (CMHSA) team but working to help children, young people and adults at a crucial time with a well-established mental health provider. 

It’s also important to understand that this isn’t an approach that’s being implemented solely by Manx Care. Using external companies and Consultants to tackle waiting list backlogs is the approach that’s being used by NHS Trusts across the UK too.    

MCH Psychological Services, the charity behind Minds Matter, is highly respected and is also the charity behind one of the Island’s other leading mental health charitable organisations, Isle Listen. Minds Matter has helped many people and their families on the Island suffering from long-term conditions with mental health and wellbeing support for nearly 40 years. They have a highly experienced team of fully qualified, accredited and highly experienced clinicians including a Consultant Clinical Psychologist, Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapists, Person-Centred Counsellors and therapists. 

Please be aware that your details will not be passed to Minds Matter in order for them to progress your/your child’s appointment until we have received your explicit consent for us to do this, and that you’re happy for your care to be undertaken by Minds Matter on behalf of Manx Care.

Yes – part of our agreement with Minds Matter is that we work collaboratively with them to ensure you/your child is getting the right support with a clear set of outcomes. Essentially it will be the same process as per if you were attending a face-to-face appointment with a Manx Care mental health clinician - only that your appointment will be with Minds Matter.   

If you consent to be referred to Minds Matter for psychological therapy, they will contact you to arrange to meet with a member of their team at either of their warm and welcoming therapy suites at Skanco Court, Cooil Road, Douglas or their Community Suite at The Old School House, Cronkbourne.

The team are very aware that some people may feel nervous when seeking therapy and have worked extremely hard to make sure that any visit to its therapy suites, will be a positive experience that they will be happy to engage with.

No.

Initially, we will send a letter to you at the address we hold on our files for you. If you’ve recently moved house or changed address then please make us aware of this as soon as possible. 

The letter will outline some basic facts about what we’re proposing, information about Minds Matter and next steps, and will seek your official consent to be seen by a Minds Matter clinical psychologist/therapist. The consent form will be on a separate sheet of paper, and a stamped addressed envelope will also be included for ease of return. Alternatively you can e-mail us at IMHSMindsMatterqueries@gov.im stating “I (name and D.O.B) consent/do not consent to be referred for psychological therapy to be conducted by a therapist working for Minds Matter.  We may phone some patients to follow up with them if we don’t receive a response to our initial letter. It’s important that we receive written consent from you so that we can attach a record of this to your patient file. 

Please be aware that in any correspondence – written, email or verbal – we will never ask you for any form of payment, or for you to share your bank or financial details with us. These details are not requested on the consent form either. In the event you receive any such requests from a company purporting to be either Manx Care or Minds Matter, please do not respond to these and report them to the Patient Information Centre at Noble’s Hospital (call 01624 650103 or email pic@manxcare.im). The team will then report this to the relevant authorities if this is deemed to be an attempted fraud or scam. 

Please be reassured that Manx Care has worked to ensure that we obtain the appropriate consent from patients, and in terms of our approach to seeking this. A copy of the Privacy Notice can be found here.

No, it's not. This is simply how Manx Care is choosing to approach how it reduces its waiting lists by working in collaboration with specialised external providers, and ensures that those who have been waiting the longest for diagnosis and treatment receive this as quickly as possible. The use of external companies to tackle hospital waiting lists is an approach that's being employed by NHS Trusts across the UK too, and so this isn't something that's being done solely by Manx Care.

You can submit any questions or concerns to a dedicated email address IMHSMindsMatterqueries@gov.im, following which we will identify the most appropriate member of our team to contact you with a response.  

Alternatively, the Manx Care Advice and Liaison Service (MCALS) may be able to support you as well (call +44 1624 642642 or email MCALS@gov.im). The MCALS team is available as follows: 

• Weekdays, 10am to 3pm
• Closed during weekends and on Isle of Man Public Holidays 

If a message is left on the answer-machine, a member of the team will aim to return the call during the next working day.

We cannot answer this specifically but are working our way through the list as quickly as possible with Minds Matter.

This is a complex question, however, Individuals will typically be prioritised on the basis of the seriousness of their difficulties and the time they have already spend waiting for access to psychological treatment. 

You can submit any questions or concerns to IMHSMindsMatterqueries@gov.im, following which we will identify the most appropriate member of our team to contact you with a response.