Mental health support starts long before crisis

Last night, the Government announced plans to invest £343 million in expanding community mental health support across England, including 100 new community mental health centres and 59 dedicated mental health emergency departments.We welcome the government's commitment to bringing support closer to communities and helping more people access help earlier.

As the UK's largest mental health support database, we know that prevention starts long before someone reaches NHS services. Every day, the Hub of Hope shows us where people are looking for help, what they need and where gaps in support exist. That insight has an important role to play in shaping the future of mental health support.

𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿’𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗻𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 (𝟱 𝗔𝘂𝗴𝘂𝘀𝘁) 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝗺𝗮𝗷𝗼𝗿 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗮𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱, 𝗝𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗠𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘀, 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗘𝗢 𝗼𝗳 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗶𝗴𝗺𝗮 𝘀𝗮𝗶𝗱:

This is the most significant and practical national mental health policy announcement we have seen in some time and we welcome the actions laid out in this plan. Adequate and relevant local mental health support, embedded in communities and dedicated emergency centres will be vital in preventing people reaching crisis point and reducing NHS waiting lists. However, mental health is deeply interconnected with housing, social care, employment and financial and economic factors, and issues often start long before an individual accesses NHS support. If the government is serious about prevention, it needs to embed mental health in schools and workplaces, before an individual reaches the point when they need NHS support, and work closely with voluntary sector organisations to deliver its plans. Through the Hub of Hope, we can see when somebody starts looking for help. We don't just see where people receive support. We see where they go looking for it, what they are looking for and, pertinently, where they can't find it. Data on these earliest indications will be vital in the government’s planned expansion of mental health support, to identify specific local needs and gaps in provision, because where you live should shape how support is delivered, not whether you receive it at all. This is an opportunity for the government to not just redesign mental health services, but transform the way it thinks about mental health altogether, putting people and earliest possible prevention at its heart. - Jake Mills, Founder & CEO

Mental health doesn't begin when someone walks through the doors of a hospital. It begins in our homes, our schools, our workplaces and our communities. 💙