Mental Health Crisis in Leeds

Healthwatch Leeds investigated mental health crisis support in Leeds. This was conducted with a survey between January to March 2019, with 697 people completing it. 

The report found that people experiencing a crisis did not tend to know who to go to for support. There were significant variations in people's experiences of crisis support, including through A&E, Crisis services and Acute Liaison Psychiatry services. However, positive experiences were reported through third sector organisations. Particular emphasis was made to staff interactions when seeking support and a lack og understanding about mental health. Quicker access to support when in mental health crisis was a strong and recurrent theme. Less than half were told of further support after crisis. People talked about the need for earlier interventions to help avert a crisis and the long waiting times for support. Additional needs, such as autism, were not considered when accessing crisis services.

The report recommended that clear information about where to go for support be distributed; all providers should demonstrate how they adhere to the mental health crisis "I" statements; all providers should display a non judgemental and caring manner; providers should work together and learn from good practice; providers should respond to timelines of access and waiting times; mainstream services need to ensure they are mental health trained; follow-up support after crisis should be offered; providers need to review how services meet additional needs; providers need to identify how carers are supported; and all services need to review processes of feedback.