MENTAL health services in Basingstoke will receive £250,000 of government funding to improve facilities and care in the borough. 

The money will be used to improve mental health wards, create places of safety, and improve community staff facilities.

It means people at risk of experiencing a mental health emergency will receive care and support in appropriate community settings outside of A&E, helping to ease pressures on the NHS. 

The funding has been welcomed by Kit Malthouse MP for North West Hampshire

Mr Malthouse said: “I’m pleased to see places like Basingstoke receive funding to improve mental health services. People who go through mental health issues deserve the right care in a safe and appropriate setting. Sadly, they are too often ending up in A&E when they should be receiving specialist treatment elsewhere.

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"This funding will make sure they get the help they need, while easing pressures on emergency departments and freeing up staff time. This is a huge priority for the government this winter."

He continued: “This is of course on top of the £6.5 million investment for a new diagnostic centre for Andover, which will diagnose patients more quickly in the community, and again, help cut the backlogs from Covid.”

Funding for Hampshire’s mental health services is part of a national £150m investment for 2022/23. The money will be invested in providing and improving a range of spaces to support people experiencing or at risk of experiencing a mental health crisis.

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New urgent assessment and care centres will be made, and existing mental health suites and facilities will be redesigned and refurbished. This includes emergency departments, creating spaces outside of A&E, and the expansion of crisis lines.

This builds on the Government’s existing plans to improve mental health services. Every area now has an NHS open-access urgent mental health helpline which can be accessed 24/7.

The helplines are currently taking around 200,000 calls per month, with only one to two per cent reported as being directed to either 999 or A&E. In the community, NHS Mental Health Support Teams are being rolled out in schools and colleges, offering early mental health help to children and young people.

The Government has also committed to increasing mental health spending to 8.9 per cent of all NHS funding.