The London Mental Health Fact Book Where home treatment is not appropriate patients can expect crisis and recovery houses to be universally available and offered as an alternative to hospital admission. Every emergency department in London will adapt to meet the needs of people in mental health crisis. They will include on-site psychiatry services available round-the-clock. These services will see patients within an hour of emergency department referral to ensure a timely assessment and to minimise risk. They will also provide dedicated areas for mental health assessments, taking into account the needs of people in crisis. For the first time patients will have access to a single crisis helpline open 24/7, 365 days a year. The phone line will route patients through to local NHS telephone support and other services including NHS 111 where appropriate. Perhaps most significantly, the future of crisis care is one where no child or adult who requires emergency response will ever be in a police cell. The Met Police is supporting and helping to deliver this ambition. Here at the Maudsley hospital we worked with the Met to pilot the Street Triage project. Our staff provided police officers with 24-hour telephone support or face to face support on the street to help them make informed decisions about vulnerable people in crisis. More than half of all police forces in England are now working with the NHS in this way and early data is showing that where the nine pilots are operating, a greater proportion of people are going to health-based places of safety and the number of people being detained under Section 136 has dropped by an average of 25%. Under the umbrella of the Concordat, London now needs to come together to commission and deliver excellent crisis care in order to realise this future vision and save lives. 22 Our staff provided police officers with 24-hour telephone support or face to face support on the street to help them make informed decisions about vulnerable people in crisis. “ ”
London Mental Health Fact Bbook
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