New Lancashire mental health service offers A&E alternative
A national charity is launching a new service in Lancashire to provide an alternative to A&E for people experiencing a mental health crisis.
Richmond Fellowship, part of Recovery Focus, has received funding from the NHS to open a crisis house in the county to provide emergency accommodation for people experiencing a mental health crisis.
The service will operate from a purpose renovated property in Chorley providing a short stay intervention service fully supported by trained staff. The service will open in Chorley from April 2017 with the potential for a second service opening in the east of the county at a later date.
Joe Redmond, managing director for Richmond Fellowship (north), said:
“We’re delighted to be working alongside Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust to provide a crisis house in Lancashire.
“Elsewhere in the country our crisis houses have been a huge success in providing key support to people experiencing a mental health crisis where A&E admission is not the right thing for their wellbeing.
“Our crisis houses are fully supported by trained staff and give mental health teams more options for crisis management – ultimately saving the NHS time and money.”
Research shows that up to 43% of people can be better supported through a short stay in a crisis house as opposed to A&E admission.
Lisa Moorhouse, Adult Mental Health Network Director at Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust said:
“We are really looking forward to working in partnership with Richmond Fellowship to provide crisis house support in Lancashire.
“There is an increasing demand on mental health services in Lancashire and as part of this we have been working hard to determine what services are needed to ensure people are well supported. Richmond Fellowship provides a number of crisis houses across the country which offer a safe, recovery focused intervention for people in the community.
“The crisis house in Chorley will ensure that people in crisis are accessing the right service at the right time, as well as providing an alternative to those presenting themselves A&E in crisis. We are hoping to open a second house in East Lancashire later next year.”
Harry first experienced a mental health crisis whilst at university in Leicester. He was given a choice between staying in the crisis house or being admitted to hospital and sectioned. He said:
“After quite a while of suffering with my mental health it was slowly building up. I wasn’t getting the right treatment and support.
“My community treatment team realised how severe my mental health problems were getting and I was advised to come to the crisis house.
“It was the first time I’d felt safe in a while. The supportive environment which is the crisis house was one hundred times better. Being admitted to the crisis house was a real turning point in my life.”
