Psychological Interventions in Nursing & Community Service (PINC)
We offer Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) if you have long-term health conditions (LTC) and low to moderate levels of anxiety and/or depression.
Our service is suitable for you if you’re homebound, and have at least one LTC that is impacting areas of your life, such as relationships, ability to work, or your independence.
It may be that your Long Term Condition (LTC) (for example, diabetes, arthritis, high blood pressure), is affecting areas of your life such as relationships, ability to work, or your independence.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is a type of talking therapy. Our approach is based on the idea that the way we think about a situation affects the way we feel and act.
Our sessions are a chance for you to talk about your challenges and the way you think, on a one-to-one basis with a psychological professional.
Our service is intended as a short-term intervention through up to 12 weekly CBT sessions, across a three-month period.
Depending on your needs, we may offer an additional three-month follow-up.
Assessment and Individual Formulation
When you’re referred to us, we will arrange a face-to-face appointment at your home.
The appointment will include some psychometric questionnaires and a risk assessment that will help us to assess your situation, and create a support plan with you.
The assessment tasks are short, and you don’t need to prepare for them.
The questions we ask will help us better understand what you’re thinking and how you’re feeling, such as:
“Are you able to stop or control your worrying?”
“Are you sleeping too little or too much, or finding it hard to sleep?”.
We will also talk with you about your medical history, and potential therapy goals you may have. This could be doing things you enjoy again such as a hobby or getting out of the house more often.
We’ll provide you with a guides and self-help leaflets and contact details of other services that may also be able to help you.
We may be able to suggest other services if you decide that our PINC service isn’t right for you.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) sessions
We can offer up to 12 weekly sessions of CBT. There will be 1 session per week, each lasting up to 1 hour.
Depending on what you and our team think will be helpful and beneficial, sessions may cover:
- Challenging negative thoughts
- Behaviour monitoring and activation
- Mindfulness
Between sessions, we will encourage you to follow a series of tasks.
This may include breathing and relaxation techniques, activity planning, or diary writing.
3-month follow up
In your final session, we will ask you to complete the same psychometric task you completed in your first appointment. This will help us record any changes in your low mood and/or anxiety.
Referral criteria
PINC is suitable for you if you meet all of the following criteria:
- You have one or more diagnosed long-term physical health conditions (LTCs), such as, but not limited, to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), heart failure, or diabetes, and
- You are housebound, and unable to leave the house due to illness, mobility or low mood/anxiety, and
- You experience mild to moderate symptoms of low mood and/or anxiety
We do not accept self-referrals.
You must be referred to us by a GP or a healthcare professional from another service. Please speak to them first, and they will help you with the right service.
The referral route will depend on which area of Berkshire you’re in.
PINC East referral process (WAM, Slough, Bracknell)
Referrals to our PINC East team need to be submitted to the Integrated Hub by your healthcare professional.
Email Integratedhub@berkshire.nhs.uk
Call 0300 365 1234
PINC West referral process (Reading, Newbury, Wokingham)
Referrals to PINC West need to be submitted to the relevant Community Nursing Triage Team for each locality.
Reading email ReadingCommunityNursingTriage@berkshire.nhs.uk
Newbury email Newburyurgentcare@berkshire.nhs.uk
Wokingham email Mailbox.WokinghamHospCNWokinghamTriage@berkshire.nhs.uk
Appointments with our service are available between 9am and 5pm, Monday to Friday.
Please speak to your GP or healthcare professional for guidance on accessing our service.
| Day of the week | Time |
|---|---|
| Monday | 9am to 5pm |
| Tuesday | 9amto 5pm |
| Wednesday | 9am to 5pm |
| Thursday | 9am to 5pm |
| Friday | 9am to 5pm |
| Saturday | Closed |
| Sunday | Closed |
Intervention from our service has demonstrated considerable benefits. Outcome data from July 2022 exhibited a 56% reduction in aggregate depression scores, a 59% reduction in aggregate anxiety scores, and a 38% increase in quality-of-life scores.
A number of patients who had contact with the PINC service offered their feelings after receiving treatment:
“Before sessions I didn’t know how to handle my physical health difficulties but now, after therapy, I can accept these difficulties and live in the present” - Anonymous Patient 1.
“Therapy made an enormous difference and I’m not afraid of doing things anymore. I can see beyond and plan ahead” - Anonymous Patient 2.
Our Neurodiversity Passport can help you communicate your needs to our staff. It covers sensory processing, your communication preferences, and topics that might make you feel anxious and overwhelmed, so that we can support you.
