24hour NHS phone support for all urgent mental health needs

Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust has launched a dedicated phone line* so that people of all ages in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland can access urgent NHS mental health support directly. 

The new mental health Central Access Point  (CAP) phone service, which went live on Friday, links callers with call handlers and clinicians who can assess their needs and advise, support, signpost or refer them directly to the appropriate service.

Launched as a timely intervention at the height of the COVID-19 outbreak, it offers an alternative to NHS 111, the emergency department and other urgent and non-urgent services for people with urgent mental health needs.

As well as helping to provide assessments and early interventions where needed, the service aims to help reduce the pressure on other services, particularly emergency services, allowing them to focus resources on the COVID-19 response.

The CAP was developed in response to feedback from service users, NHS staff and stakeholders county-wide as part of an ambitious programme of all-age mental health service improvements by the Trust.

The roll-out of the service has been brought forward in line with a drive by NHS England and Improvement to ensure anyone with an urgent need has telephone access to NHS support, advice and triage.

Who is the CAP service for?

The 0116 295 3060 service is for people of all ages across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland – including existing and previous service users and people who have never used  mental health services before. It also support carers, stakeholders and health and social care professionals looking for information and advice.

Calls are answered by call handlers and triaged by a nurse who will assess the urgency and the caller’s need.  If an individual requires an assessment, they will be referred to the appropriate service, such as a community mental health team or LPT’s crisis and home treatment team. The team is also supported by a consultant psychiatrist.

GPs¸ social care providers and other agencies referring in to LPT services should continue to refer patients through the existing referral pathways.

The CAP phone service* is not an emergency service. Where people have immediate, serious and life-threatening emergency mental and/or physical health needs, for example if an individual has taken an overdose or is in imminent danger of physical harm, they should attend A & E or call 999 for the appropriate emergency service.

*Local call rate. Please refer to phone provider for details of charges

Information about national, local and online non-urgent mental health support is available on the LPT website https://www.leicspart.nhs.uk/latest/covid-19-support-for-your-emotional-wellbeing/

This page was last updated: 7th May 2020