Improving care for people experiencing mental health crises is one of our five priority areas for improvement.
When someone reaches a mental health crisis point, they often need urgent help from emergency departments, ambulance services, or other high‑pressure teams. This can be distressing and may not always provide the type of support that best meets their needs.
Strengthening early intervention, proactive outreach, and coordinated crisis response can help people get the right support sooner. This means fewer repeat crises, fewer unnecessary hospital admissions, and better outcomes for individuals and their families. Improving continuity and follow‑up also helps people stay well for longer.
Why this is a priority
Mental ill‑health is one of the biggest causes of disability and early death across the Central East area. It also contributes to economic inactivity, affecting people’s ability to work and take part in daily life.
There is high demand for urgent and crisis mental health care. People’s outcomes vary widely, and gaps in early intervention and continuity of care mean that support is often inconsistent. This can lead to repeated crises and unplanned hospital use.
Improving early, proactive case management and building integrated pathways can:
- improve coordination between teams
- reduce escalation into crisis
- enhance quality of life
- improve life expectancy
- support people to stay in or return to work.
These changes will help ensure people receive timely, joined‑up support that meets their needs.
What we will do
We will improve, standardise, and scale crisis care models across our area. This will focus on:
- providing earlier support to prevent crises
- offering coordinated responses when crises do occur
- reducing repeat crisis presentations
- avoiding unnecessary hospital admissions
- improving outcomes and experience for people in mental health crisis and their families.
This approach aims to create a more consistent, proactive, and person‑centred crisis care system.