In the biggest shakeup of mental health services for a generation, the West Midlands is to get 37 new neighbourhood centres as part of a £343mn plan to provide more than 150 new facilities across England where people will get treatment earlier and nearer to home.
The plan, aimed at turning the tide on mental health, proposes 100 new community mental health centres (CMHCs), “offering walk-in support without a referral or months’ long wait”, and 59 dedicated mental health emergency departments (MHEDs) giving people access to crisis specialist care. The 59 MHEDs “will provide fast, same-day specialist help for people experiencing a crisis who are medically fit and do not need A&E treatment.”
57 of the new centres will be new builds, while 102 will be conversions of existing sites in libraries, banks and other community or high-street locations. They will all be in the heart of the neighbourhoods they serve. The cost of the initial 59 MHEDs will be £156mn and the 100 CMHCs will cost £187mn.
Mental health services to take pressure off the NHS
The demand for mental health services has increased dramatically in recent years, with 1 in 5 young people and children experiencing common mental health conditions every year. Too many people reach a crisis point before receiving support, and this places even more pressure on the NHS.
The government’s press release says that the new centres will make it a great deal easier for “people to get the right help at the first time of asking, by bringing mental health and specialist teams together under one roof,” The scheme will utilise local resources such as GPs, councils and the voluntary sector.
The government’s lifeline for many
Prime Minister Andy Burnham said that “nobody should be left to struggle with their mental health alone: but every day, thousands of people are waiting months for help, then finding the only door open to them is a busy A&E.”
He hailed the new centres as “a lifeline for so many”, bringing NHS services closer to home. This will make an important difference in getting people the support they need in a timely manner before the situation gets worse.
The Health and Social Care Secretary Yvette Cooper said that too many people struggle for too long to get the help they need. She explained that the new community mental health centres would “help people to get support earlier and closer to home, … before problems escalate”, while the new mental health centres would ensure that people with urgent problems were seen “quickly by specialist teams”.
She added: “This is how we can turn the tide on mental ill health – preventing more people from reaching crisis, cutting waits for care, and building an NHS which is there for everyone when they need it.”
Mental health campaigners have welcomed the initiative.
West Midlands mental health centres coming soon
The West Midlands MHEDs will be provided at Birmingham, Dudley, Chesterfield, Derby, Leicester, Nottingham and Staffordshire. The CMHCs will be located in Birmingham (3 sites), Coalville, Coventry, Dudley, Hereford and Worcestershire (2), Leicester (2), Lincolnshire (2), Nottinghamshire, North Northamptonshire, Sandwell, South Derbyshire, Staffordshire, Stoke-on-Trent and West Northamptonshire (2).
The first sites are due to open in autumn 2026, with more facilities expected from March 2027.
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