Healthy London Partnership is supporting London’s crisis care system to use national capital funding to implement London’s Section 136 pathway and the health based place of safety specification launched in December 2016 by the Mayor of London.

From October 2017, £15m in national capital funding is available to expand services that can help prevent mental health service users from experiencing a crisis and supporting those in crisis and who have experienced a crisis to recover and avoid relapse.

For support with your application, please contact our team at hlp.londoncrisiscare@nhs.net

Applying for capital funding: Application forms and guidance and will be on www.gov.uk by mid-October, with more information available on the Crisis Care Concordat website. Applications should be sent to sent to bpos@dh.gsi.gov.uk. Applications close in January 2018. Successful applicants will be announced at the end of February 2018.

Healthy London Partnership reviewed current health based places of safety and identified ways to support an improved model of care. It focused on establishing an optimal pan-London configuration that enables health based place of safety sites to meet the new London specification (a key component being a service staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week). The national funding scheme is a timely opportunity to put plans into action to improve London’s health based place of safety provision.

A mental health service user, said:

“There is a stark disparity in the response from the health and social care system to people with mental health vs. physical health problems and this is unacceptable.

“People with mental health crisis needs are often denied access to care by the NHS in a way that is discriminatory and may have to be conveyed over many hours to multiple points of care in a police vehicle or ambulance in deeply distressing circumstances – sometimes even ending up detained in a police cell. It is unthinkable that this would be tolerated for a vulnerable individual who was physically in need of urgent care.”

London’s Health Based Place of Safety Options Appraisal

The health based place of safety options appraisal has been steered by service users, carers and senior and operational staff from different organisations across London’s crisis care system. It considers provision for adults and children and has determined an optimal number of health based place of safety sites, London’s most viable sites and the optimal pan-London site configuration using detailed data and subjective assessments through system-wide engagement.

Local engagement will be taking place in coming months to a preferred place of safety configuration option in each sustainability and transformtion footprint  (with adults, children and young people) to then inform the pan-London business case due to be finalised later this year. This business case will ensure there is a broader look than just the acute end of the pathway, looking at the wider crisis care continuum from preventative care and early interventions, as well as robust follow up pathways.

The business case will support London’s crisis care system in developing bids related to London’s new model of care and improved health based place of safety configuration. To support local areas looking more broadly at crisis care services tying in Health Based Place of Safety provision, Healthy London Partnership has published a rapid review of crisis services that aim to offer individuals in crisis access timely care and support away from the often distressing A&E department.

London’s mental health crisis care service users tell us over and over again that the care they receive does not meet even the basic expectations of dignity, respect and high quality compassionate care, and services are often not delivered in the right environment to help people recover.

Significant engagement across the system with mental health and acute trusts, social services, the police forces, London ambulance service and the voluntary sector as well as over 300 service users culminated in an agreed pan-London section 136 pathway and a specification for Health Based Places of Safety.

Apply for capital funding

The capital funding application guidance and forms will be launched in October on www.gov.uk with a link to the Crisis Care Concordat website.  The deadline for applications will be mid-January with applications send to bpos@dh.gsi.gov.uk before successful applications and announced at the end of February.

For support with your application, please contact hlp.londoncrisiscare@nhs.net

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