WITHIN the past few years, poor mental health has had one of the highest death rates in the UK, with an average of 70,000 deaths per year, followed up by pneumonia or influenza, with an estimated kill rate of 22,000 deaths per year (based off January 2023).

However, following the NHS Parliamentary Awards, the board of healthcare created and deduced a plan to deal with the poor mental health of the UK and is choosing to upgrade an already local plan to a national, regionally accepted plan.

The NHS is teaming up with several organisations, such as BrisDoc Health Service, Avon and Somerset Police, the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust and more to create the Integrated Access Partnership.
“I am delighted that the Integrated Access Partnership has been recognised within the regional NHS Parliamentary Awards,” says Will Warrender, Chief Executive at South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust.

 “The introduction of the partnership has been a positive step forward in providing expert urgent care for people experiencing mental health crisis, helping many thousands of people to receive the care they need a place, and from a service, that best suits their needs.”

The Integrated Access Partnership combines mental health support into urgent and emergency care front door services across both 999 and 111 for people in mental health crisis.  It provides the most appropriate response to people through the most appropriate professional. This can include blue light emergency face-to-face response, remote face-to-face and telephone assessment, clinical review, professional advice and prescribing.

“It is great news that this local initiative has been recognised at a regional level,” said Jeff Farrar, Chair of NHS Bristol Integrated Care Board. “The service is the result of extensive collaboration between multiple organisations and shows the innovation and commitment to deliver the very best health and care services for people across our communities.”

The plan has been working in certain areas successfully since 2014 and aims to help people all across the UK and dramatically lower the death rates when it is introduced nationally.