Whitehaven Walk-In Mental Health Hub Reports Early Gains
A mental health hub in the Cumbrian town of Whitehaven is reporting positive early signs. Hope Haven is open around the clock, and nobody needs a diagnosis or a referral to walk in.
Six pilots, one model
Hope Haven is one of six pilot hubs in England under NHS England's 10-year health plan. The other five are in Lewisham and Tower Hamlets in London, Birmingham, York and Sheffield. The model responds to worries that older NHS services have not lifted local wellbeing.
The hubs build on the Trieste model, a 24-hour holistic approach that began in 1980s Italy. Under one roof they host exercise classes, financial advice and housing support, plus several short-stay beds for overnight help.
This summer Andy Burnham announced £343m toward "the biggest redesign of mental health services in a generation". One hundred more hubs are due to open gradually, starting this autumn. An evaluation of the pilots is due later this year.
What the first months show
From March to July, about 3,000 people used the hub, either digitally or in person. For nearly half, this was the first contact with NHS mental health care. Between January and September, local inpatient mental health admissions were 24% lower than a year earlier.
Why Whitehaven
Whitehaven is a quiet, isolated coastal town in north-west England. Nearby shops have closed, and the market opposite the hub has a single stall. Its main employer is Sellafield Ltd, a nuclear decommissioning site.
Suicide rates here are among the highest in England: 20 deaths per 100,000 people, according to NHS Alliance, almost double the national rate. Referrals to local mental health services have trebled since 2017.
People who use it
Tamara, 22, arrived at 11 at night, afraid. She was seen at once and offered an appointment the next day. She believes she would otherwise still be at "rock bottom".
Gordy, 47, has struggled with alcohol addiction and took antidepressants for four and a half years. After working with the hub, he has been able to come off them. Mary Bragg, 91, lives alone and goes to a weekly chair-based exercise class. "I just love the company," she says.
Josh MacAlister, the Labour MP for Whitehaven and Workington, called the early signs positive. He said a walk-in, low-stigma service offering a range of help "could prove to be a big part of the solution".
Our Take
The 24% fall in inpatient admissions is a single local figure over nine months, and other factors may have played a part. The coming evaluation of all six pilots will show whether Whitehaven's results hold elsewhere, as 100 more hubs begin to open.
Source: The Guardian