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Mental health services have received a boost in funding across North Yorkshire to provide local people with additional crisis services and alternative places of safety.

Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys (TEWV) NHS Foundation services has received over half a million pounds worth of funding from local clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to help reduce the impact of mental health crisis on both individuals in crisis and wider services, such as the police, ambulance and accident and emergency.

The funding will allow the Trust to maintain specialist 24/7 telephone assessment and crisis support, as well as expanding existing out of hours crisis cafes in York and Scarborough and introducing new crisis cafes in Northallerton, Harrogate and a mental health first aid response into Selby.

Crisis cafes are generally open on an evening and offer people aged 16 and over a safe and comfortable place to go to receive support when they are in distress. The cafes are supported by trained nurses and support staff who have mental health first aid training, whilst also being linked to local crisis and crisis resolution home treatment teams, so café staff can access a specialist response if needed.

The Trust’s existing crisis cafes, The Haven in York and Scarborough Crisis Café, have been operating since October and August 2018 respectively. Both have been exceptionally beneficial for local people, helping over 200 people a week to access information and support around crisis prevention, as well as signposting them to and facilitating access to other relevant and appropriate services, agencies and activities.

Commenting on the boost Liz Herring, head of adult mental health services for TEWV in North Yorkshire, said “This funding is excellent news for local people. We will be able to further meet people’s needs, particularly on an evening, which we know can be a challenging time. It not only allows us to invest in crisis café’s, which offer valuable out of hours support and advice, but it also means that we can develop our 24 hour crisis telephone line to further improve the response that we can provide to people.”

Helen Embleton, urgent care pathways lead said: “We’re delighted to have received NHS transformation funding. This will help us to deliver a responsive crisis service that meets key requirements set out in the NHS Long Term Plan.

“Extending the support available to people before and during a mental health emergency will help to make sure individuals receive the right care, from the right people, in the right place at the right time.

“Over the last couple of years, crisis services across TEWV have been focussing on delivering quality improvements that enhance collaborative and patient centred care. This has involved increasing multiagency working, improving access and pathways into services and increasing patient, carer and family involvement. Extensive work has also been undertaken to reduce police sections and unnecessary attendance at accident and emergency departments.

“We have worked closely with local partners including clinical commissioning groups, NHS England, the police, voluntary sector and ambulance services to secure this funding and are excited at the new and innovative plans in place to develop a ‘fit for the future’ crisis service that meets the diverse needs of the people we support.”