The new service at Chase Farm provides a dedicated alternative to accident and emergency for people experiencing a mental health crisis
A new mental health facility designed to support people with urgent needs has opened in Enfield.
North London NHS Foundation Trust (NLFT) today (Wednesday 29th) opened its new Mental Health Crisis Assessment Service (MHCAS), within the Chase Farm Hospital NHS complex.
The new 24/7 service provides a dedicated alternative to accident and emergency (A&E) for people experiencing a mental health crisis, offering specialist assessment and support in a “calm, safe and therapeutic environment designed specifically for mental health care”.
The service has been created to ensure people can access “the right support, in the right place, at the right time”, helping reduce the need for people in crisis to wait in busy emergency departments.
As well as providing faster access to urgent mental health assessment and support, MHCAS delivers care in a “trauma-informed, recovery-focused environment” and reduces burdens on other parts of the health system.
A key feature of the service is the involvement of people with lived experience of mental health trauma, who helped shape the design of the environment and influenced how the service will support people during a crisis.
Jess Livesey, chief operating officer at North London NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We’ve been supported by some brilliant staff, service users and carers who have helped shape and design this service, and for that I am incredibly grateful. MHCAS is what we believe modern mental health care should look like – compassionate, accessible and fit for the future.”
Anthony Daniel, who helped shape the service, said: “When I was at my lowest a service like this would have made a real difference to me and my family. With the right interventions, medical and holistic care can save lives.”
The primary route into urgent mental health support remains the NHS 111 telephone service, but people may now be referred directly to MHCAS, which will also accept walk-ins and assess and support anyone who presents directly. It is open 24 hours each day at The Chase Building, Chase Farm Hospital, 127 The Ridgeway EN2 8JL.
For anyone in immediate danger, a physical health emergency, overdose or any threat to life, call 999.
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