Up to 100 new mental health ambulances are to be procured as part of plans to improve care and access to support in the community for people experiencing a mental health emergency.
The plans also include 150 new projects, including new mental health urgent assessment and care centres, the redesign and refurbishment of existing mental health suites and facilities, (including those in emergency departments), and the provision of spaces outside of A&E and in the community, such as crisis cafes, crisis houses and safe spaces where support can be provided.
The new ambulances will take mental and physical health professionals directly to patients where they can be assessed and directed to the most appropriate place for care, thus reducing the number of patients who are taken to A&E. The ambulances themselves will be designed to provide a calmer environment, with a less clinical interior that moves away from the traditional bright yellow colour scheme, dimmable lighting, equipment to play music, and space for parents, carers or companions to accompany the patient during assessment and transfer.
The government has announced funding of £150m up to April 2025 - £7m for the ambulances and the remaining £143m, announced in the 2021 Spending Review, towards the 150 new projects.
Maria Caulfield, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Mental Health and Women’s Health Strategy), has also announced a rapid review into patient safety in mental health inpatient settings in England.
The review will focus on the availability of data and evidence to healthcare services, including information provided by patients and families, and how this can be used more effectively to identify patient safety risks and failures in care. It will be chaired by Dr Geraldine Strathdee, who is already chairing the Essex Mental Health Independent Inquiry, which is looking at inpatient mental health deaths in Essex between 2000 and 2020.
