Content warning: this page has mentions of self harm and suicide from the start
Why we need excellent crisis care
In a mental health crisis, our minds are at melting point. We can't carry on anymore. We may be at immediate risk of self-harm or suicide. Or experience extreme anxiety, have a panic attack or even a psychotic episode. It can happen to any one of us.
When people's lives come crashing down in a mental health crisis, they need help. Urgently. Only 14% of people in crisis got all the help and support they needed.
That's not acceptable: an emergency is an emergency.
Excellent crisis care exists. It can save lives. And that's why we need it available for everyone.
Restraint in mental health services
We all want to see a reduction in the use of restraint in mental health settings - an experience that can be scary, humiliating and cause unnecessary distress.
Although there's some great work going on around the country to promote environments where restraint is not needed, we need to see this everywhere. We want to empower people who've experienced mental health problems to be part of local initiatives to reduce restraint and spread good practice.
Our new guides – a summary of current restraint guidance and an accompanying campaigning guide – are there to help you to influence change in your area and to support you along the way.
The Crisis Care Concordat
The Mental Health Crisis Care Concordat is a national agreement between local services and agencies involved in the care and support of people in mental health crisis. It sets out how organisations will work together better to make sure people get the help they need when they need it.
At Mind, we welcome the Concordat as a significant step forward resulting from our campaigning for better crisis care.
In February 2014, 22 national bodies involved in health, policing, social care, housing, local government and the third sector – including Mind –signed the Crisis Care Concordat. Now, we are working together to make the Concordat a reality on the ground.
We're speaking with local service providers and agencies about signing the Concordat and working with their colleagues to improve crisis care provision. We're also speaking to our supporters, members and campaigners to mobilise them locally to demand that local agencies take action and sign up for the Concordat.
View the progress so far on the Crisis Care Concordat interactive map.
The Mental Health Crisis Care Concordat in Wales
Already, fewer people in Wales with mental health problems are being held in police custody. However, there's much more to do to put local plans into action, embed joint working and grow the ambitions set out in the Concordat. We can build on the momentum we've now established, and work with our partners to make sure those of us in crisis get the right help at the right time.
The Mental Health Crisis Care Concordat in Wales is an agreement between the Welsh Government and partners to improve how people, in a mental health crisis and who present a risk to themselves or the public, are helped. It aims to help prevent people from being held inappropriately in police custody or being drawn into the criminal justice system.
It was signed in December 2015 by the Welsh government, police forces, NHS, councils and other agencies. At Mind Cymru, we're supporting the work of the Concordat, in particular through chairing its Task and Finish Board (on behalf of the Wales Alliance for Mental Health) and assisting in its coordination.
