Getting Help in a Crisis

Knowing your service options is an important step in tackling a mental health crisis. You do not need to manage alone as a range of help is available, depending on your circumstances.

Urgent help

Examples of a mental health crisis includes thinking you are at risk of taking your own life or seriously harming yourself and needing urgent medical attention. You may be close to acting on suicidal thoughts or have seriously harmed yourself.

If you need immediate help and are concerned for your safety, please dial 999 and ask for the ambulance service.

If not an immediate emergency but you are still concerned about your safety, you can call our Camden and Islington crisis teams on their freephone number 0800 917 3333. More information about this service can be found here: Urgent help | North London Mental Health Partnership

If you are located outside of the boroughs of Camden and Islington, then please use the following link to locate your local urgent crisis service:
https://www.nhs.uk/service-search/mental-health/find-an-urgent-mental-health-helpline – this applies to services in England only.

If you are deaf or have hearing loss, you can use a 999 emergency text service. However, you MUST register your phone to use this service. Click here and follow the instructions to register your phone.

What happens at an Accident & Emergency (A&E) department?

Many hospitals have a liaison psychiatry service, which is designed to bridge the gap between physical and mental health care. A mental health clinician will assess your difficulties and offer advice on next steps in your care (eg. whether you can go home or need to be admitted to hospital). If this service is not available, the A&E team will contact the local on-call mental health services, such as the crisis resolution and home treatment teams (CRHTs) who will arrange an assessment of your needs.

Find your nearest A&E

Calling crisis services

If you do not need urgent assistance via Accident & Emergency services but have significant concerns about managing risk of hurting yourself via deliberate self-harm or suicide, if you feel unsafe and/or if you have concerns that you might harm others, crisis services are available. These services are designed to support you outside of a hospital setting and are available by telephone 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

The freephone number for the Camden & Islington Crisis service is 0800 917 3333

If you are located outside of the boroughs of Camden and Islington, then please use the following link to locate your local urgent crisis service:

https://www.nhs.uk/service-search/mental-health/find-an-urgent-mental-health-helpline– this applies to services in England only
Booking an urgent GP appointment

If you need urgent support for your mental health but can keep yourself safe for a brief period of time until you can access a medical appointment, then you can contact your GP surgery and request an Emergency or ‘same-day’ appointment. You will be offered an appointment with the next available doctor who will inquire about your current difficulties and consider appropriate next steps in managing your care.

You can get urgent help from any GP surgery without being registered as a patient, although you might need to register as a temporary patient if you need treatment over more than 24 hours. You can locate a your nearest GP surgery on the NHS Choices website

If you call out of hours and/or the GP surgery is closed you can call 111, which is a free 24-hour NHS helpline that can help you access local services.

Managing suicidal thoughts

We recognise that suicidal thoughts can be common as a response to psychological stress and encourage you to use one of the following options:

Samaritans Freephone 116 123.
This service provides 24-hour confidential emotional support. You can also send an email to jo@samaritans.org and can expect a response within 24 hours.

Shout
is a free 24 hour text service for anyone in crisis. They offer support via text for people who are experiencing a personal crisis, who are feeling unable to cope and who need support. Shout is designed to be as easy to access as possible – there is no app or data required, no registration process and no fee. It is silent, confidential and anonymous. For more information see: http://www.giveusashout.org

The “Stay Alive” App
This provides useful information and tools to help you stay safe in crisis. You can use it if you are having thoughts of suicide or if you are concerned about someone else who may be considering suicide. It is available for free download on all smart phones here

Drayton Park Crisis House for Women
Drayton Park is an alternative to hospital admission for women with mental health problems living in Camden & Islington. It has 12 places available at any one time and can accommodate four children with their carer. The service works with the issues such as childhood sexual abuse and on-going abuse issues. Open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Referrals are taken for women living in Camden and Islington and are all taken over the phone from any source, including self-referral by calling 0207 607 2777.

Mental health advice

Rethink National Advice Service – Telephone: 0300 5000 927
Advice on how to get help and recover from severe mental illness. Available Monday – Friday from 10am – 2pm. Not open on bank holidays. Email: advice@rethink.org

Saneline – Telephone: 0300 304 7000

Advice to anyone affected by mental illness, offering support, details of local services, treatment and mental health legislation. Open every day of the year from 6pm – 11pm. Text care or visit the website.

Mindinfo Line – Telephone: 0300 123 3393

Advice on mental illness, help and alternative therapies. Text: 86463 Email: info@mind.org.uk

The Listening Place- Telephone :020 3906 7676

Somewhere individuals can go to speak openly about their feelings without being judged or being given advice.

They are open 7 days a week from 9am – 9pm and offer face-to-face appointments.

For more information visit their

Website: Home – The Listening Place

Address: Unit 1 Cambridge Court, 210 Shepherds Bush Road, London, W6 7NJ

HOPELineUK – Telephone: 0800 068 4141

Confidential helpline service staffed by trained professionals who can give support, practical advice and information to anyone concerned about themselves or a young person they know who may be at risk. The helpline is open Monday – Friday from 10am – 10pm and 2pm – 10pm on weekends and 2pm-5pm bank holidays. Calls are free from BT landlines, other networks and mobiles may vary. The helpline advisors will call you back if you leave a message. Email: pat@papyrus-uk.org Text: 07786 209 697

 

General health enquiries

Residents in Camden and Islington can contact their GP, or speak to a local pharmacist for care advice.

For general health enquiries dial 111 for free from a landline or mobile phone to gain access to local NHS healthcare services in England. You can call 111 at any time because the service is open 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. Deaf patients can use Typetalk or a textphone to contact NHS 111.

NHS 111 is the number to use if you are not in an emergency/life-threatening situation but do need medical help quickly. Here are some more reasons you may use NHS 111:

  • you think you need to go to A&E/hospital
  • you need care quickly from the NHS
  • you need help but don’t know who to call or you don’t have a GP to call
  • you need health information
  • you are ill and need to be told what to do next
Domestic violence services - urgent help contact information

Immediate danger
If you are in immediate danger, you can do the following:

  • Call 999 if you are able to
  • You can use the ‘Silent Solution system’ by calling 999 then pressing 55 when prompted.
  • You can access the Emergency Text Service: If you cannot use a voice phone, register with the police by texting ‘REGISTER’ to 999

Other crisis contacts

National Domestic Abuse Helpline
Freephone 24-hour  helpline which is run by Refuge
Contact no. 0808 200 0247

Drayton Park Women’s Crisis house
Provide residential stay and support during a mental health crisis. Women can self-refer or be referred
Contact no. 0207 607 2777

Rape Crisis 
Helpline for sexual violence survivors
Contact no. 0808 802 9999

Solace Women Aid
London-based Domestic Abuse charity. Offers safe refuge, advice and accommodation
Advice line: 0808 802 5565
Solace Rape Crisis helpline: 0808 801 0305