Mental health emergency service helps 15,000 people in three months

Mental health non-profit organisation, Everyturn Mental Health, has helped more than 15,000 people in North Yorkshire in the first quarter of providing the NHS 111 Mental Health First Response Service.

Everyturn, which offers specialist mental health and crisis services in the North East and across England, is working with Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys (TEWV) NHS Foundation Trust to give people access to mental health crisis support.

The telephone-based service is designed to offer immediate help to people experiencing a mental health crisis who call NHS 111 and select the mental health option. This is the new national single point of access for people with urgent mental health needs.

Everyturn’s 111 service covers North Yorkshire, York, and Selby and was fully launched in May this year. Since then, it has supported over 15,000 people with compassionate, person-centred care, with only 30% of callers needing to be referred to TEWV’s North Yorkshire, York and Selby crisis teams for clinical support.

Luke Herron, manager of the NHS 111 Mental Health First Response Service at Everyturn said: “Our team of highly skilled and compassionate professionals are on hand to support people in mental health crisis, provide reassurance, and ensure they are directed to a service that is most suited to their needs.”

“The team is here to listen and support 24/7, answering calls safely, encouragingly, and sensitively. I’m incredibly proud of the service and the team, and I’m overjoyed with the positive impact that the service is having on people calling NHS 111 select mental health option, the wider community, and our partners.”

Vicky Ellis, modern matron for TEWV’s adult crisis teams in North Yorkshire, York and Selby said: “We are proud to be working in partnership with Everyturn to deliver our telephone-based crisis service.

“Everyturn provides the initial contact with people experiencing a mental health crisis, ensuring they are welcomed with a kind and compassionate response, followed by appropriate help and support.

“As a mental health crisis is defined differently by all, Everyturn provide a vital role in identifying the nature of a person’s crisis. This ensures their needs are met by the most appropriate service and ensure that our qualified crisis clinicians only receive the calls that require specialist clinical input and knowledge.”