Calls for better access to mental health crisis support in Leeds
The report's been released by Healthwatch Leeds
A new report's found the most vulnerable mental health patients in Leeds are struggling to know where to turn for vital help.
Almost half of people at risk of going through a crisis - where they're unable to cope or considering taking their own life - wouldn't know where to go for support according to Healthwatch Leeds.
The group's now calling for better and quicker access to services as well a range of other improvements.
Hannah Davies is Chief Exec - she says peple need somewhere to turn to:
"The first thing that people need when they're in a mental health crisis is compassion and someone to listen to. There are lots of different places where people might go to - it might be a GP, it might be A&E, it might be charities across the city. And wherever people go we need to mgive support in a kind caring and listening way.
"For anybody going through a mental health crisis, it's potentially one of the the worst experiences a person has to go through so accessing support in an easy, understandable way is really important.
"Hopefully from this report we're hoping that together with our health and care partners that we can really make that clear for people and also give them the support they need when they need it."
Among the report's recommendations are that all health and care professionals in our city get training on how to support people with their mental health, like mental health first aid sessions.
Hannah says it's important to improve everyone's understanding on it:
"We've all got mental health. For health and care professionals to understand mental health and to be able to support us with our mental health is as important as being able to support us with our physical health. I think in Leeds we want to be a mentally healthy city and the more all of us know about mental health the better.
"This is not an overnight fix but I think there's a strong commitment from the partners that we've already spoken with who absolutely want to get this right.
"I think in Leeds we've got a strong commitment, we've got increasing investment coming into mental health. From a Healthwatch perspective we want to keep hearing about people's experiences because we have to get it right."
A spokesperson for NHS Leeds Clinical Commissioning Group, said:
“We welcome this report and recognise the current gaps and shortfalls highlighted, and are working to ensure the crisis service achieves national standards.
"We’re pleased to say that from 1 April 2019 a redesign of community mental health services began. Last week we announced a five year contract, worth £76m, to improve support for people with common mental health conditions as well as complex needs that can be cared for within the community.
“We’ve also funded a third crisis café in the city that helps those who are experiencing severe mental ill health, with support available on evenings seven days a week. The work we’re doing in Leeds has resulted in additional funding coming from NHS England to improve support for a range of people with differing needs, including children and young people.
“We will look to run a similar review to see if our additional support and access to services has improved the experience of local people."