Mental health nurses in part of East London will be working from today in what is being billed as the first “round-the-clock mental health unit” to open under the government’s new plan for the NHS.
NHS England announced that the first 24/7 neighbourhood mental health centre, promised in the 10 Year Health Plan, is now fully operational, offering walk-in support for the Bethnal Green area.
“This new centre represents a major step forward in making vital, genuinely holistic mental health support”
Chris Hampson
The Barnsley Street Neighbourhood Mental Health Centre in Tower Hamlets is the first of an initial six such units, or hubs, due to open their doors across the country later this year, according to NHS England.
It is being run in partnership between East London NHS Foundation Trust, charitable housing association Look Ahead and charities forming the Tower Hamlets Mental Health Alliance.
The new centres are intended to bring together a range of community mental health services under one roof, including crisis services, community mental health services and short-stay beds.
Patients with serious mental illness like schizophrenia will be able to walk in without an appointment if they need mental health support, as well as advice on employment, housing, or volunteering.
The centres will be in the “heart of communities” and staffed by a team that includes psychiatrists, mental health professionals, peer support workers and voluntary sector staff, noted NHS England.
Patients will also benefit from having local authority, voluntary, faith and community sector organisations onsite at the centres, as well as people with lived experience offering support.
The government’s 10 Year Health Plan, published earlier this month, committed to “transform mental health services into 24/7 neighbourhood care models”.
NHS England described the unit as a “trailblazing model of round-the-clock mental health support” that formed part of the government’s core ambition to move more services into community settings.
It added that the six neighbourhood mental health centres opening this year will be in the following inner city and rural locations:
Tower Hamlets, London – East London NHS Foundation Trust
Whitehaven (Cumbria)– Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust
Acomb (York) – York Mental Health Partnership
East of Birmingham – Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust
Lewisham, London – South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust
Heeley (Sheffield) – Sheffield Health and Social Care NHS Foundation Trust
Separate to the neighbourhood mental health units, the 10-year plan has also pledged to introduce mental health emergency departments, to help take the pressure off acute sector emergency units.
According to the plan, £120m funding will be provided for 85 dedicated mental health emergency departments (MHEDs), meaning one will be co-located or very close to 50% of type 1 A&E units.
MHEDs will provide walk-in access, receive patients in crisis brought by ambulance or referred by the police or 111 and undertake rapid assessment typically within four hours, said the 10 year plan.
In addition, the government has promised the roll out of 24/7 psychiatric teams in every A&E and the world’s first 24/7 mental health crisis helplines across England.
Meanwhile, NHS England said it had issued guidance to support better mental health care, including instructing local areas not to discharge patients simply for missing an appointment.
Claire Murdoch, NHS England’s national mental health director, said: “We know that for people with serious mental health problems it can be daunting to seek help, and people can be overwhelmed by the different teams they come into contact with.
“The ‘one stop shop’ approach will mean that people can get the care they need closer to home and at an earlier stage, with treatment in a comfortable environment.
“Whether someone needs help with their mental health, housing, or work, they’ll find help in their community, around the clock, and without the need for a referral,” she said.
Look Ahead chief executive Chris Hampson, one of the partners involved in the Tower Hamlets hub, said: “This new centre represents a major step forward in making vital, genuinely holistic mental health support more accessible within local communities.”
Cassandra Geisel, from Rethink Mental Illness and leader of the Tower Hamlets Mental Health Alliance, said: “We know that timely access to mental health support close to home can be the difference between recovery and crisis.
“What people tell us, and what evidence shows, is that the most effective support is wraparound: providing access not only to clinical care and treatment but also to support with housing, employment, and building social connections.
“This new one-stop-shop mental health centre, bringing together clinical teams, voluntary sector partners and peer support workers, represents the future of mental health care,” she added.
Responding to the announcement, Rebecca Gray, the NHS Confederation’s mental health director, said: “It will also be important that we learn from the roll out of the first wave of centres as pilots.
“For the government to deliver on this ambition, the NHS will require sustained investment in digital and estates, support for the workforce, and a commitment to decentralise national control by empowering local leaders to do what is best for their communities.
“Extra capital funding will also be vital to the successful roll-out these centres,” she said, noting that that they represented a “vital step towards a more preventative, community-based NHS”.
Ms Gray added: “We know the needs of adults with severe mental illnesses are not always well met.
“Through partnerships between the centres, the NHS and the voluntary sector, stronger joined up care and support for people who have complex clinical and social needs in their own community on a neighbourhood footprint can be provided.”
