- £150 million will be used to build 150 new facilities to support mental health urgent and emergency care services and up to 100 new specialist mental health ambulances
- New projects receiving funding include crisis cafés, step-down services, health-based ‘places of safety’, crisis lines and emergency assessment spaces
- Funding will help ease pressures on NHS emergency care – especially during challenging winters ahead
Anyone experiencing a mental health emergency will benefit from more tailored emergency care and support in the community through specialised mental health ambulances, more crisis services, and improved health-based places of safety.
An £150 million investment up to 2024/25 will better support people experiencing – or at risk of experiencing – mental health crises to receive care and support in more appropriate settings outside of A&E, helping to ease pressures facing the NHS.
The funding will allow for the procurement of up to 100 new mental health ambulances, which will take specialist staff directly to patients to deliver support on scene or transfer them to the most appropriate place for care.
It will also fund 150 new projects centred on supporting the provision of mental health crisis response and urgent mental health care. The new projects include over 30 schemes providing crisis cafes, crisis houses and other similar safe spaces, as well as over 20 new or improved health-based places of safety which provide a safe space for people detained by the police. Improvements to NHS 111 and crisis phone lines will also be rolled out.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: “People in mental health crisis deserve compassionate care in a safe and appropriate setting. Too often, they end up in A&E when they should be receiving specialist treatment elsewhere. This important funding will make sure they get the help they need, while easing pressures on emergency departments and freeing up staff time – which is a huge priority for the government this winter.”
The new ambulances have been designed to provide a calmer environment, avoiding the bright yellow interior of traditional NHS ambulances and using simple NHS service logos, dimmable lighting and space for family and friends to accompany the patient during assessment. These are backed by £7 million in government funding.
The remaining £143 million of capital funding, announced in the 2021 Spending Review, will go towards the 150 new projects. It will be invested in providing and improving a range of spaces to support people experiencing, or at risk of experiencing, mental health crises. This includes new mental health urgent assessment and care centres and the redesign and refurbishment of existing mental health suites and facilities including in emergency departments, creating spaces outside of A&E, and the expansion of crisis lines.
With planned projects located across the country, the 150 schemes support the wider government commitment to level up mental health and wellbeing across the country – including some of the most deprived local authority areas in England.
Programmes will also focus on preventative measures, including improvement of sanctuary spaces, to improve mental wellbeing, and community mental health facilities that will work to help people before reaching crisis point.
Breakdown of projects and funding in Sussex
- Improved mental health crisis de-escalation suite at Langley Green: £1,052,000
- Improved ward facilities for people in mental health crisis at Eastbourne General Hospital: £224,000
- The Haven - a purpose-built mental health assessment facility close to Eastbourne District General Hospital emergency department: £834,000
