The Department of Health says the £15 m fund it launched late last year to better support people at risk of experiencing a mental health crisis – the ‘Beyond Places of Safety’ scheme – will improve support services for those needing urgent and emergency mental healthcare, including for conditions such as psychosis, bipolar disorder, and personality disorders that could cause people to be a risk to themselves or others.
The Department said the scheme would focus on:
- Preventing people from reaching crisis point in the first place.
- Helping to develop new approaches to support those who experience a mental health crisis.
Jackie Doyle-Price, Minister for Mental Health, added: “There can be few experiences more frightening and disorientating than a mental health crisis, and I commend the teams already providing brilliant support with help from our previous grant scheme. This additional funding will give local areas scope to do even more. I look forward to seeing lots of innovative ideas for improving urgent and emergency mental healthcare countrywide.”
The launch of the latest fund follows a £15 million investment in the initiative’s predecessor, the ‘Improving Places of Safety’ scheme, which ran over 2015/16 and 2016/17, and aimed to reduce the number of people ending up in a police cell following detention under the Mental Health Act –by improving health-based ‘places of safety’ for those experiencing a crisis.