The NHS has announced that rough sleepers in towns with high rates of homelessness will be able to receive specialist NHS mental health care across the country.
According to government figures, there are an estimated 3,069 people sleeping rough on any given night in England. Common mental health conditions, including depression, anxiety, and panic disorder, are over twice as high among homeless people.
Research also shows that people are around 50 per cent more likely to have spent over a year sleeping rough if they are also experiencing mental ill health.
The new services are part of co-ordinated efforts to ensure that rough sleepers have better access to NHS mental health support and joining up care with existing outreach, accommodation, drug and alcohol and physical healthcare services.
The teams will will bring together doctors, nurses and other clinicians to co-ordinate treatment and support with other local organisations including councils and charities. The teams will identify rough sleepers in need of help, support them to access a GP and then on to the new expert mental health support and care.
Professor Tim Kendall, NHS England clinical national director for mental health, said: “As part of a drive to tackle health inequalities, the NHS is opening more than a dozen mental health clinics so that homeless people can access specialist support in a convenient location.
“NHS teams working with local authorities will seek out rough sleepers who have often been through incredibly traumatic experiences to ensure they get the help they need – and do not fall through the cracks.
“While the NHS cannot solve homelessness on its own, we are trying to reach out to homeless people and working hard to ensure that those who need mental health support get it. To do that, we are making it as easy as possible to access services, designed and built around patients’ needs.”
Areas set to benefit include: Brent, Westminster and Camden, Somerset, Devon, Slough, Windsor and Maidenhead, Surrey Heartlands, Peterborough, Great Yarmouth, Hereford and Worcestershire, Shropshire and Telford and Wrekin, East Riding, Sheffield and Doncaster, and Greater Manchester.
Image by José Manuel de Laá from Pixabay
