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Intensive Older People's Service (IOPS) Central Norfolk

  • The Intensive Older People's Service (IOPS) Central Norfolk team offers assessments and interventions for adults with age related needs. This service is not only for people over the age of 75. It is for people living with acute, severe and enduring mental health problems. This includes anxiety, depression, psychosis, confusion, dementia (any age) and related behavioural problems.

  • Service Manager Lead: Katherine Roper de Leake, Independent Nurse Prescriber
  • Address:
    St Andrew's Lodge,  The Julian Hospital,  Bowthorpe Road, Norwich, NR2 3TD
  • Reception phone number: Call us on 01603 978380. This is not a referral line.
  • Service hours: The Intensive Older People's Service (IOPS) Central Norfolk team is available from 7:50 to 21:00, seven days a week.

What this service offers

The IOPS team responds to emergency (four hour) and urgent (120 hour) referrals. This team helps people who are either not active to the Trust or are no longer active to community mental health teams.  

The team provides interventions working with other teams and organisations. The team's specific role is to provide intensive support to prevent admission to the Trust acute assessment wards.  

We accept referrals from community mental health teams for patients needing intensive support. We also help patients with dementia referred by the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital.  

Duty workers will triage the referral for further information and suitability for the service. The team will then organise a time and date to assess the referred person.  

From this assessment, we agree a plan of action with the individual. The team assesses some referrals as not needing intensive support. We signpost these people to other relevant services. For those accepted, interventions may include:  

  • Assessment and diagnosis of mental health problems  

  • Risk assessment and risk management  

  • Monitoring of mental health difficulties and agreed treatment plans  

  • Therapeutic treatment including help with personal care in support of care packages and care homes.  

The team provides intensive support for around six weeks. The team may discharge the person from care. They may also make onward referrals to either social services or community mental health teams.   

The conditions we treat are:  

  • All mental health conditions  

  • Dementia  

  • Behavioural / psychological symptoms of dementia.

Read our Service Information Leaflet - accessible (html) 

The video below explains more about our Memory Assessment Service:

Access this service

All emergency and urgent referrals come through the Single Point of Access Team.  

Care coordinators can refer someone who is already supported by community teams.  

How this service support carers including friends and family

We offer advice, individual support and information for carers. We also run carers groups. 

Urgent help

  • Social Services EDT 0344 800 8020 (out of hours) 

  • Download our Emergency Contact Information Leaflet under Resources

If you are a service user and are in crisis and need support urgently you can contact your service on the number which will have been provided.  

Call 111 and select the mental health option to speak to our 24 hour mental health crisis line.

If you are with someone who has attempted suicide, call 999 and stay with them until the ambulance arrives. 

If anyone is at serious risk of harm, call 999 and ask for the police. 

For non-life threatening medical situations, call NHS111 on 111.  

For more information, see Help in a Crisis. 

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