EEAST helps more than 80% of mental health crisis patients avoid hospital

The East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EEAST) provides a dedicated mental health response in partnership with local mental health trusts across the east of England. Together, they ensure that more than 80% of people experiencing a mental health crisis receive support without the additional distress of hospital admission.

EEAST Mental Health Response Vehicles (MHRVs) are staffed by EEAST clinicians and mental health clinicians and can be dispatched to appropriate 999 calls. In Bedfordshire, EEAST also delivers a mental health street triage service alongside Bedfordshire Police and the mental health trust.

Between 1 January and 30 April this year, MHRVs responded to 3,315 mental health emergencies. Of those patients:

• 2,040 received face-to-face support
• 957 were given direct telephone advice
• 318 cases were managed through advice provided to ambulance and police colleagues at the scene or in 999 control rooms.

Overall, 82% of patients were signposted to specialist community services, while just 17% were taken to hospital for physical health reasons or emergency mental health needs that could not be safely managed in the community.

Liz Ip Piang Siong, Head of Mental Health for EEAST, said: “Going to hospital can be stressful for anyone, but people experiencing a mental health crisis can find it particularly distressing. By working closely with healthcare professionals in the community, we provide care outside a hospital setting for the vast majority of patients. This is often the most appropriate form of treatment and, importantly, their preferred choice.”

Notes for editors EEAST’s Mental Health Response Vehicles have a vital role in delivering EEAST’s mental health commitments under the NHS 10-year plan: providing early intervention, helping prevent patients in mental health crisis deteriorating further, and avoiding unnecessary hospital admissions.