Our Safe Havens have been used as an example of best practice in new Care Quality Commission (CQC) report on mental health provision in acute hospitals.
The report highlights the importance of out of hours crisis care in the community, using Safe Havens as an example of this:
"Surrey and Bradford have crisis cafés and community wellbeing centres.These are run by qualified mental health professionals, in conjunction with peer support workers and offer a drop-in service providing support and signposting to other services, where required. Although these community services are not right for everyone experiencing a mental health crisis, they can help to reduce admissions to both acute and mental health services. In many cases, patients find them a more helpful, therapeutic environment than emergency departments."
Safe Havens provide adults in crisis with expert advice and support in the evenings and at weekends, when other services are usually closed, and can be a suitable alternative to A&E.
There are five Safe Havens open in town centre locations across Surrey and North East Hampshire. Visit www.sabp.nhs.uk/safehaven for locations and opening times.
Safe Havens are run in partnership between Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and third sector mental health specialists, Catalyst, Andover Mind, Oakleaf Enterprise, Mary Frances Trust and Richmond Fellowship. They are funded by Surrey and North East Hampshire NHS Clinical Commissioning Groups.