Boost for Inverness mental health services with launch of dedicated new ambulance
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Mental health care in Inverness is being boosted with the introduction of a special dedicated ambulance service.
Following a successful pilot of the initiative the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) has announced provision of a dedicated vehicle to respond to mental health emergencies is being expanded into he Highland capital.
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Backed by £2.6 million Scottish Government funding, mental health triage cars provide specialist frontline mental health workers to respond to incidents in communities.
Under the new plans, five new specialist staff members are being introduced to staff the mental health response car which will operate out of Inverness and provide services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
The dedicated mental health response unit, based at Inverness ambulance station, provides specialist mental health assessment, care, and support for people who are experiencing mental health challenges and who contact SAS for help.
The organisation's chief executive, Michael Dickson, said: “Our clinicians are often the first responders to have contact with a person experiencing mental health distress. These are patients with very specific needs and often require specialist help and support to make sure they get the right care.
“These units are staffed by paramedics who have undertaken advanced mental health training. The aim is to treat these patients at home, within the community, or through specialist mental health support and our staff work in partnership with mental health practitioners at New Craigs Hospital to provide the best possible support to any individual going through mental health distress.
“It’s been a really successful initiative so far and our ambition across all three pilot areas is to connect people to the most appropriate care to meet their needs and for them to get the right care, in the right place.”
The initiative was launched at Inverness Cathedral yesterday, attended by Highland MSP and mental wellbeing minister Maree Todd, who said: "It is great to see how Scottish Government is supporting this service to work with partners and mental health professionals to improve decision making and improve care outcomes.
“This is a dynamic and evolving service responding to people who need emergency mental health support and importantly, this expansion will allow that support to be provided 24 hours a day, seven days a week in Inverness.
“Everyone in Scotland in need of mental health support should know the various ways that they can access help, whether through NHS inform, their GP, the NHS 24 Mental Health Hub or though SAS when there is an immediate threat to life.”
The Scottish Ambulance Service has attended over 50,000 mental health call outs in the past five years and has partnered with NHS 24 and Police Scotland to continue the development of a Mental Health Hub which is hosted within NHS 24.
Accessible for patients 24 hours a day, the Hub is staffed by psychological wellbeing practitioners, mental health nurse practitioners and mental health senior charge nurses.
Mental health clinical advisers are also based at the service’s ambulance control centres.
The Scottish Government has published information on NHS inform on how to access urgent mental health support at different times of the day, on behalf of someone else, including a child or young person, or if the person is a visitor or has recently arrived in Scotland.
People are encouraged to phone their GP surgery or, where possible, their usual mental health team in the first instance.
If they are unable to access mental health support that way, the NHS 24 Mental Health Hub is available 24/7 on 111 to direct people to the right help.
If there is an immediate risk, for example by serious injury or overdose, or there is a life- or limb-threatening emergency, people should call 999 or go their nearest A&E.
