"Toughest times yet to come" for people's mental health says leading charity

Birmingham Mind has launched the region's only 24-hour support line

NHS Helpline
Author: Richard ThomasPublished 8th Jan 2021
Last updated 8th Jan 2021

A leading mental health charity in the West Midlands is warning the next few weeks of lockdown will be the toughest it's ever been for people's mental wellbeing.

Birmingham Mind tell us they're now receiving around 1,500 phone calls a month from people needing support.

That's ten times the amount they were seeing before the pandemic. In the six months leading up to the start of first lockdown, the charity received around 1,000 calls.

The NHS in Birmingham and Solihull has joined forces with its third sector partners, Living Well UK and Birmingham Mind, to launch the region’s first one-stop mental health support service.

Designed to make accessing mental health support as easily as possible, the 24-hour telephone number will allow callers to get immediate help over the phone from trained staff, as well as bespoke plans for aftercare assistance, all remotely.

The call-line is part of a suite of early intervention methods, which also includes a Live Web Chat instant messenger service and an email address operated by trained staff to address mental health concerns.

The trio of services comes at a critical point for NHS mental health services: since the start of the pandemic, there has been a sharp surge in the number of people reporting mental health issues, and with the third national lockdown being announced this week, this is only set to rise further.

The latest studies predict that up to 10 million people in England – almost 20% of the population – will need either new or additional mental health support as a direct consequence of the Covid-19 crisis, pushing the already strained services to a critical point.

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