Helplines case-study: Focusline (Nottingham, Birmingham, Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland, and Derbyshire)
Mental health support teams traditionally close at 5pm every weekday, leaving vulnerable people who are seeking some kind of support in a crisis during the night and at weekends.
When service providers in Nottingham decided they needed a 24-hour operation to help meet national standards, Focusline was conceived. It began in 2000 and now comprises four different telephone helplines serving people seeking mental health support in Nottingham; Birmingham; Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland; and Derbyshire.
“Mental health teams shut at 5pm so there’s nowhere for people to go for support – that’s when they use Focusline. A caller could be hearing voices or feeling suicidal, or self-harming,” said service manager Mark Smith.
All four helplines are open throughout the night, with the Nottingham and Derbyshire services open 24 hours a day. They are aimed at people aged 18-65, representing the whole range of mental illness from depression to psychosis. Last year Focusline answered 31,000 phone calls, or nearly 600 every week.
“There is a huge difference between Focusline and the Samaritans, for example. The Samaritans is completely confidential, whereas Focusline is linked in with other mental health teams. If someone was self-harming and called us we would get the emergency services out to them and we frequently liaise with other support teams and statutory services,” says Mark.
“The helpline definitely takes the pressure off hospital wards and off the mental health teams. When they go out to see their clients they can give our cards out. Focusline saves people from getting into a crisis at night or at the weekend and thus reduces hospital admissions.”
The service was originally commissioned by the primary care trust as a result of a meeting between people who use mental health services, NHS direct and members of the statutory services. The idea was to provide 24-hour support to help meet the guidance set out in the National Service Framework Standards six and seven.
Three people staff the helpline during the day and around seven in the evenings, with three people on duty through the night.
As the infrastructure and technology are already set up, the operation could easily be expanded to cover a wider geographical area – a real bonus for commissioners thinking of funding further helplines.
Staff are all fully trained, both in-house and through an external training programme and Focusline is accredited by the Telephone Helplines Association.
Each of the four helplines has its own service advisory group made up of people who use mental health services, carers, community mental health teams and voluntary sector agencies who meet quarterly.
