Thank you for making a referral to NHS Talking Therapies.

Before your first call or appointment with us, please read this page. It has information about the support available, our attendance policy, and helpful details of your local talking therapies service.

We are not a crisis service - if you're in need of immediate support, please click here for some helpful contact numbers.

Click on the tab below of the area where your GP surgery is located.

More about us

At NHS Oldham Talking Therapies service we aim to start your treatment within six weeks of making a referral.

We offer support and treatment if you’re experiencing symptoms such as difficulty sleeping, low mood, depression, stress, worry or anxiety, feelings of hopelessness or panic attacks.

We can also help you with the effects of a long-term health problem or chronic pain, post-natal depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, phobias, or post-traumatic stress disorder.

Our service is delivered by a range of professionals, including cognitive behavioural therapists and counsellors, who will find a level of treatment that is right for you.

This could be a group workshop, telephone-based course of self-help treatment, or individual therapy sessions (more details below).

It’s important to remember that our talking therapies require commitment and a desire to work together with us to effect change in your life. Homework tasks are common to help the therapy process work.

If we agree together that talking therapies isn't the right service for you, or if the timing is not right, we will be able to discuss other things that may be helpful, and refer or signpost you to wherever we agree.

Our courses

We offer a number of courses to support your mental health and wellbeing, including:

  • Mindfulness

  • Emotion skills

  • Psychosexual counselling

  • Couples counselling

  • Healthy minds healthier you

  • Living well with a long-term health condition

  • Anxiety and depression group

  • Understanding trauma

Read more about our courses.

SilverCloud

We are offering a mental health self-help program called SilverCloud, where you can instantly access materials which have been shown to have a positive impact on depression, anxiety and stress.

You can log into the program from any device as often as you want, and we'll regularly support you as you work through the materials. Once you have completed the program, you will still be able to access the information in your account for up to a year. Please let us know if you'd be interested in this option.

For more info or to contact us, visit our Oldham Talking Therapies page.

Therapy contract

We ask all patients to commit to making positive changes within therapy and the following things will help you understand our expectations and get the most from your therapy:

  • Attend appointments; This is important because therapy is only helpful if you attend regularly.
  • Attend on time; You will have a limited number of appointments so using all the time offered will help you benefit from therapy.
Missing your appointments

Please contact us and give at least 48 hours notice if you are unable to attend an appointment. Talk to your therapist about any difficulties you have attending your appointments.

If you miss your first appointment, miss or cancel more than three appointments during therapy (less than 48 hours notice), or repeatedly attend late, it indicates that now might not be the right time for therapy. If this happens you would be discharged from our service.

Other expectations
  • Please don’t take any alcohol or drugs before or during your appointment.
  • Complete tasks and work between appointments. Most of the work in therapy happens between appointments so being prepared to commit to this is important.
  • Complete the questionnaires for every appointment. This helps us understand how you are feeling and symptoms you may need more help with.
  • If you are struggling with your mental health and need more immediate support, look through your wellbeing plan and/or contact crisis services for additional support.
What is discussed in your appointment
  • Therapists and patients should have a professional and respectful relationship.
  • Historical and current events that you talk about in therapy are discussed within our service and may be shared with your GP. We will not share this information with people outside of our service unless there is a risk of harm to yourself or another person. If there is a risk to you or others, we would share this information with other appropriate professionals.
  • Your information is stored on a secure confidential NHS computer system. The people who have access to this information are your therapist, their supervisors, managers, and administration staff.
  • If you are unhappy with our service, please talk to us about this. If you prefer not to talk to your therapist, you can talk to a manager or contact Pennine Care's complaints department. 
Zero tolerance policy

We support the government's 'zero tolerance' campaign for health service staff. NHS colleagues have a right to care for others without fear of being attacked or abused. To successfully provide these services a mutual respect between all the staff and patients has to be in place.

Aggressive behaviour, be it violent or abusive, will not be tolerated and may result in you being discharged from the service. An internal incident process will be triggered and in extreme cases, the Police may be contacted and charges may be pressed.

We ask you to treat your therapist and the administrative staff courteously at all times.

Examples of unacceptable behaviour:

  • Using offensive language or swearing at staff members
  • Any physical violence towards staff or other patients, including pushing or shoving
  • Verbal abuse or insults towards the staff in any form
  • Racial abuse, sexual harassment, or discrimination of any kind will not be tolerated
  • Intimidating behaviour and/or threatening language
  • Causing damage or stealing from the premises, staff or patients