New walk-in support centres are set to open across high streets in England for people needing mental health support, the government announced on Thursday. <\/p>\n
Prime Minister Andy Burnham said the centres will be a \u201clifeline\u201d for the thousands of people who are waiting \u201cmonths\u201d for help.<\/p>\n
According to NHS figures, 2.36 million people in England had an open referral with mental health services at the end of May 2026, up from 2.10 million a year earlier and 1.95 million in May 2024.<\/p>\n
The announcement is part of the forthcoming Mental Health Strategy, which is expected to be published later this year and will be informed by the independent review into mental health conditions, ADHD and autism.<\/p>\n
But what are the centres, who can use them, and what help is available? ITV News explains. <\/p>\n
Who can use them? <\/p>\n
Anyone – people will not need to be referred to access help.<\/p>\n
The NHS says the centres will offer “an open door support” system, meaning people can walk in or call any time to get access to support.<\/p>\n
Health Secretary Yvette Cooper said the hope is that people will “get support earlier and closer to home, making it easier to get the right care before problems escalate”.<\/p>\n
The NHS is specifically targeting people experiencing severe mental illness to help provide reliable neighbourhood support and a quick response if the condition worsens.<\/p>\n
Subscribe for free to our weekly newsletter<\/a> for exclusive and original coverage from ITV News. Direct to your inbox every Friday morning. <\/p>\n Where will the centres be?<\/p>\n The Department of Health and Social Care said there will be 100 new community mental health centres and 59 dedicated mental health emergency departments in what is called the \u201cbiggest redesign of mental health services in a generation\u201d.<\/p>\n The support centres will be in libraries, banks and other high street locations, as well as in new facilities.<\/p>\n Officials also announced that more people in a mental health crisis will be given specialist care in dedicated mental health emergency departments, rather than waiting in busy A&Es.<\/p>\n Many of the centres are also expected to be open every day of the week, and some will even have short-stay beds.<\/p>\n Health Secretary Yvette Cooper and Prime Minister Andy Burnham. Credit: PA<\/p>\n The government claims that the initiative is backed by \u00a3343 million and the first sites will open in autumn this year, with \u201cfurther facilities following from March 2027\u201d.<\/p>\n Who will staff them?<\/p>\n Mental health specialists will work together to provide suitable care and will work alongside GPs, councils, volunteers and families. <\/p>\n They will also work with housing and employment support in some cases.<\/p>\n The aim of the centres is to allow patients to continue treatment and support with a single trusted team to avoid having to repeat their story.<\/p>\n You can expect immediate help with mental illness, from formulating a treatment plan, service referrals, medication and emergency support, whatever is needed to tackle the issue.<\/p>\n The health secretary visited an existing mental health centre in Sheffield on Thursday. Credit: PA<\/p>\n What are Mental Health Emergency Departments?<\/p>\n Additional mental health emergency departments will be built to offer same-day support for people experiencing a crisis who go to A&E but are medically fit.<\/p>\n These specialist facilities will be located within emergency departments and will provide a \u201ccalm, therapeutic environment where people can be assessed quickly\u201d, officials said.<\/p>\n In England, there are currently 23 mental health emergency departments, and this latest announcement will see the formulation of 59 additional dedicated departments, taking the total number in England to 82.<\/p>\n The prime minister said that people shouldn’t only have the option of a busy A&E and that they shoud access “the right care in the right place”.<\/p>\n The departments would work alongside police and ambulance services and connect people in crisis “to the right ongoing care”.<\/p>\n Different types of therapy will be available after patients are referred following visits to centres. Credit: iStock<\/p>\n Why is this only happening in England?<\/p>\n Like some other government announcements, these new centres will only be created in England and this is because of devolution<\/a>.<\/p>\n In Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, the health service is devolved, meaning that those governments are responsible for policy relating to their region.<\/p>\n There are some types of centres in these nations already but there will not be a direct benefit to either nation from this latest government announcement.<\/p>\n Who to contact if you or someone you know needs help<\/p>\n Samaritans<\/a> operates a 24-hour service available every day of the year, by calling 116 123. If you prefer to write down how you\u2019re feeling, or if you\u2019re worried about being overheard on the phone, you can email Samaritans at jo@samaritans.org<\/a><\/p>\n Papyrus<\/a> offer support for children and young people under the age of 35 over the phone on 0800 068 41 41 between 9am \u2013 midnight every day of the year. If you would rather text you can do so on 07786 209697 or send an email to pat@papyrus-uk.org<\/a><\/p>\n Rethink Mental Illness<\/a> offer practical advice and information for anyone affected by mental health problems on a wide range of topics including treatment, support and care. Phone 0300 5000 927 (Mon-Fri 9.30am-4pm) or visit rethink.org<\/a><\/p>\n Mind<\/a> also offer mental health support between 9am and 6pm, Monday to Friday. You can call them on 0300 123 3393 or text them on 86463. There is also lots of information available on their website.<\/a><\/p>\n Campaign Against Living Miserably’s (CALM<\/a>) helpline and webchat are open from 5pm until midnight, 365 days a year. Call CALM on 0800 58 58 58 or chat to their trained helpline staff online<\/a>. No matter who you are or what you’re going through, it’s free, anonymous and confidential.<\/p>\n Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New walk-in support centres are set to open across high streets in England for people needing mental health…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":576808,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[163,85,46,522,523],"class_list":["post-576807","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mental-health","tag-health","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-mental-health","tag-mentalhealth"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/576807","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=576807"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/576807\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/576808"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=576807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=576807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=576807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}