Mental health nurses helping on the frontline in South Yorkshire

Mental health nurses working on the frontline in Yorkshire Ambulance Service's control room are helping to reduce hospital admissions.

There were 1,167 mental health related calls received by the ambulance service in December, with Yorkshire Ambulance Service receiving an average of 40 every day.

Specialist mental health nurses in the control room have been employed to support call takers and frontline staff by providing advice, helping with decision-making and assessing patients.

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Yorkshire Ambulance Service said for patients in mental health crisis, timely and appropriate support is essential.

The mental health nurses can clinically assess patients over the phone, ensuring they receive the most appropriate care for them - not automatically hospital.

Dr Julian Mark, Executive Medical Director at Yorkshire Ambulance Service, said: “It is so important that we ensure patients receive the right care, in the right place, at the right time, and having mental health nurses in our 999 call centre for the last year has had a really positive impact on this.

“We want to make sure we are providing the best possible care for our patients and we will continue to expand this initiative so more patients can benefit.”

As part of

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“As an organisation we officially signed up to the Time to Change programme in 2014 and are committed to making sure that the mental health of both our patients and our staff is taken seriously. We recognise the stresses that our staff face on a daily basis, and Time to Talk Day is a real opportunity for us to demonstrate that we are serious about ending the stigma and discrimination that surrounds mental health.”