To: Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt MP

Mental health emergency service

Create an emergency service to deal exclusively with mental health issues. To be used by members of the public on the 999 number, and to be linked to the other emergency services.

Why is this important?

At the moment I am going through a tough patch with anxiety and depression and I find myself feeling scared. I increasingly feel that I want to go to hospital, but am aware that it is much harder to become an inpatient than it was 20 years ago.
An issue I saw on the Government petition website made me think.
If long term sufferers like me, or their families, phoned 999 they could be put through to a person trained to deal with these issues. They could provide immediate support or intervention or a referral. This would free up the police and ambulance services. If another emergency service needed to be involved, this could be assessed and coordinated.
Equally, one of the other emergency services could contact the mental health team for advice or to require a physical presence by one of the team.

The Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Trust already have street triage in place, so this could be used as a model for a nationwide roll out : https://www.bsmhft.nhs.uk/our-services/urgent-care/street-triage/

This petition has been inspired by the following petition: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/172423

How it will be delivered

By email

Links

Campaign Facebook Page Campaign Website

Updates

2018-03-22 14:42:57 +0000

The Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Trust already have street triage in place: https://www.bsmhft.nhs.uk/our-services/urgent-care/street-triage/

2018-03-21 11:17:35 +0000

In January 2017 the BBC reported on A&E admissions for Mental Health. Birmingham seem to be implementing a version of my idea already. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-38576368

2017-10-13 09:40:19 +0100

In September a friend and I set up an organisation called Challenging Mental Health Services UK. I have written a blog about access to crisis support. You can read it on http://cmhsuk.com/2017/10/13/how-to-get-help-in-a-crisis/

2017-08-31 19:13:39 +0100

10 signatures reached

2017-06-15 01:18:49 +0100

Just seen a post on Facebook which suggests that mental health doesn't get enough funding because sufferers are less likely to return to work than people who have other illnesses.
https://www.facebook.com/fastjulie/posts/10213866380920147

2017-06-07 23:07:13 +0100

I've just posted this on the Ruby Wax page on Facebook
The post says:
https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/mental-health-emergency-service
I've set up a petition for an emergency service dedicated to mental health.
I don't have many signatures yet. My illness tells me that's because it's not a very good idea.....

2017-05-20 11:37:04 +0100

This is an article which I believe gives an insight into why this service is important:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/chris-cornell-when-suicide-doesnt-make-sense_us_591e2496e4b07617ae4cbaac?ncid=engmodushpmg00000004

2017-03-27 17:30:45 +0100

I've sent emails asking for feedback and/or support to:
MIND
SANE
The Samaritans
Comic Relief