Essex: Calls To Mental Health Line Up

The number of calls to an out-of-hours mental health service in Essex has more than doubled in less than a year.

The TRUST line, an NHS service run by Mid Essex Mind, received more than 6,000 calls between October and December in 2012, a rise of 108% from the first three months of the year. 

Paul Keedwell, Director of Operations and Nursing, said: "We created this pilot service for people who use NHS mental health services. Sometimes they feel a crisis coming on so call for help. TRUST line works out what the person needs. 

"In most cases this is someone to listen, to provide reassurance and advice. 

"Just under a fifth of these calls needed immediate NHS help, which was arranged. It also means NHS night staff can concentrate on the urgent cases at A&E or people in distress the police may bring to our hospitals. 

"The service attracts a lot of compliments. There is a clear need for this kind of service." 

Lynn Prendergast from North Essex Partnership Trust has been telling Heart a large number of people aged between 40 and 60 calling. 

She said: "People who have, perhaps, had established jobs and then things have happened and they've lost their jobs, maybe they've lost their and also family dynamics have changed and they're feeling very stressed by that." 

She also believes the number could rise even further through 2013: "People have used the service before and felt obviously happy with the service and re-use the service. 

"We have lots of changes to people's benefits, people losing jobs, some of the social support systems are becoming quite fractured." 

Almost half the calls came from North Essex and Colchest or Tendring in particular. Chelmsford and Maldon represented almost a fifth of calls.