Member Article

Priory opens in Harley Street offering fast-access mental health treatment in the heart of London’s prestigious medical district

• Wellbeing Centre provides psychological support throughout fertility issues, pregnancy, birth and bonding, including for those experiencing antenatal or postnatal depression

• Centre will also treat depression, anxiety, stress, eating disorders, addictions, and bereavement issues – and provide mental health services for children over 12

• Drug-free treatment for adults with depression, Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS), will be available

The Priory Group, which runs the largest independent network of mental healthcare hospitals and clinics in the UK, has opened a new clinic in Harley Street - the latest in a series of successful high street clinics for outpatients.

The Priory Wellbeing Centre at 41 Harley St, London provides fast access to mental health treatment, with flexible consulting hours – Monday to Friday, from 8am to 8.30pm – enabling patients to plan visits around work and other commitments.

The Priory Group has invested nearly £300,000 in the centre which will be staffed by therapists, psychiatrists, psychologists and other healthcare professionals, offering a comprehensive range of treatment options.

The Harley Street centre has close links with, and clinical support from, Priory Hospitals in North London, Roehampton, Woking, Chelmsford and Hayes Grove, Kent, enabling people to access additional or more intensive support where required.

Across the UK, Priory’s Wellbeing Centres bring swift access to patients in need of mental healthcare. Priory is an approved provider for all the UK’s leading private medical insurers. Most outpatient therapy services are covered as standard by the majority of insurers, meaning people may be able to access treatment at no additional cost. Priory also provides self-pay options for individuals and families, along with arrangements for businesses looking to support their employees. Too often people do not realise their health insurance will cover a mental health assessment and treatment.

Dr Hayley van Zwanenberg is Clinical Director of Priory Group’s Wellbeing Centres and Priory Group’s Associate Medical Director.

With World Mental Health Day being marked on October 10, she said: “It is very exciting for my team to be opening this new clinic in Harley Street and to offer their expertise and extensive experience to patients seeking urgent help and forward-thinking treatment for their mental health. We hope to extend Priory’s role in offering early diagnosis and prompt intervention, and play a proactive part in supporting all patients towards a better quality of life and long-term recovery.

“Priory’s Wellbeing Centres have proven incredibly popular across the UK and it feels timely and appropriate that we should bring our expertise to a second central London location, synonymous with high quality and specialist healthcare.”

Priory consultant psychiatrist Dr Kathryn Hollins, a UK expert in parent and child mental health, said: “Specialist psychological treatments will be available in our new parenthood, pregnancy and family life service. There is greater understanding of the importance of emotional wellbeing during pregnancy and the early years of childhood development and family life. More people are choosing to invest in their families’ health and happiness and we want to support them.”

The Centre will offer psychological support and treatment for individuals and couples trying for a baby (including through fertility treatment, and adoption) as well as treatment for moderate antenatal and postnatal depression and anxiety. Dr Hollins was awarded a Winston Churchill Travel Fellowship in 2016 to explore international 21st century mental health and social interventions for pregnancy and parenthood in Scandinavia and the USA.

Andrew Hynard, CEO of The Howard de Walden Estate, said: “The Priory will add enormous value to the Harley Street Medical Area’s offering. Its specialists have a long and trusted track record of helping people affected by mental health issues and addiction. This new clinic in the Harley Street Medical Area is central to our overall vision for the area, which is to attract the brightest talent in medicine and to deliver the very best patient care. I am delighted they have chosen to bring their huge wealth of expertise to our community.”

The launch of the Priory Harley Street Wellbeing Centre, whose manager George Mithi is a qualified mental health nurse, is the latest in a series of Wellbeing Centres launched by the Priory Group in Birmingham, Southampton, Canterbury, Norwich, Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Greater Manchester, London (Fenchurch St) and Oxford. It recently opened its first overseas Wellbeing Centre, in Dubai. Priory Healthcare, part of the Priory Group, has nearly 100 registered Healthcare locations, comprising both hospitals and clinics.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by LT .