NHS’s 111 service will now offer mental health support to people in crisis, it has been announced.
Ministers said the change forms part of ‘plans to help fix the broken health system’.
Although health leaders have welcomed the move, they said NHS trusts ‘remain deeply concerned’ about the state of mental health services in the UK.
From today, anyone in England who is in crisis or worried about a loved one can call 111 and select the mental health option to speak to a trained professional.
Up until now, local health systems had their own separate phone lines, taking around 200,000 calls a month.
As part of the new service, call handlers can set up face-to-face community support for the caller or guide them to other services.
Claire Murdoch, NHS England’s director for mental health, said: “We know that record numbers of people are suffering with their mental health, and we want to ensure that when people are in crisis, they have easy, straightforward access to the support they need.
‘While the NHS made significant progress during the pandemic with local services creating their own crisis phone lines, we want to go a step further by giving people everywhere in England one single point of access via NHS 111.
‘And in doing so, I am extremely proud that we will become one of the first countries in the world to offer a free universal package of support to people through one easy to access phone line.’
Stephen Kinnock, minister of state for care, added: ‘As part of our plans to help fix the broken health system we want to ensure we give mental health the same attention and focus as physical health.’
Mark Winstanley, chief executive of Rethink Mental Illness, welcomed the move.
He said: ‘Today, the NHS have made it easier to access urgent support via 111, building on provision already in place through crisis lines. We welcome this important step, and hope it will make it simpler for people to access the help they need.’
However, Saffron Cordery, deputy chief executive of NHS Providers, said that while any measures that help people access the care they need are welcomed, ‘trusts remain deeply concerned about levels of unmet need for those seeking mental health care’.
She said the latest national data shows ‘over 350,000 children and young people and almost 250,000 adults are waiting for treatment from community mental health services’.
She added: ‘They also know that demand and persistent pressure on NHS 111 services, many of which are run by already stretched ambulance services, is much higher than before the pandemic.
‘It is vital that trusts and their local partners such as schools, local authorities, and the voluntary sector are given the funding they need to deliver on ambitions around crisis care pathways for people of all ages as well as helping individuals before they reach crisis point.’
Ms Cordery said it was also important to address other underlying issues, such a the ‘wider determinants of mental ill health as well as the rising severity and complexity of people’s needs when they contact the NHS’.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
