The Mental Health Crisis Helpline is a telephone service offering support to adults of all ages in Surrey and North East Hampshire who are experiencing a mental health crisis.

Lines are open 24 hours, seven days a week. You don’t need to book an appointment and calls are free of charge.

Your care co-ordinator, if you have one, will be best placed to advise on your care and support. If you’re able to, please contact them during normal office hours if you are already accessing our services and feel your mental health has deteriorated or you need support.

Your call will be answered by one of our trained call handlers who are experienced in working with people with mental ill-health.

They will help you access the support you may need. This may involve speaking to a qualified mental health practitioner such as a social worker or occupational therapist.

If you or someone you know is experiencing emotional distress we can:

• listen to you and help you work through immediate problems
• work with you, using your crisis plan, to find ways to move forward or suggest ways of coping
• give you information about other services that may be helpful to you or the person you care for.

We can also advise you about the wide range of local and national help available including:

• relevant mental health services
• statutory and third sector organisations e.g. helplines, support groups and networks, advocacy services
• information on specific conditions such as stress, anxiety, depression, psychosis and obsessive compulsive disorders.

We can connect you with other mental health services for further assessment, treatment or support, as appropriate.

This may include: arranging a face-to-face assessment or recommending you attend our Safe Haven evening and weekend drop-in services.

Yes. Details of your call will stored in your electronic health record, and remain confidential within Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.

However, we will inform the emergency services if you say that you are intending to either harm yourself, or others; commit a crime or place a child at risk.

Your call may also be recorded for training or monitoring purposes.

In April 2019 we launched a new freephone number for our mental health crisis helpline.

If you dial our previous crisis line number, beginning 0300, your call will be answered by the same team but you will be charged at a local rate from a UK landline. Mobile costs may vary.

NHS 111
Tel: 111 (24 hours)

If you also have concerns about your physical health
www.nhs.uk

Sane Line
Tel: 0300 304 7000 (4.30pm - 10.30pm every day)

Specialist emotional support, guidance and information
www.sane.org.uk

Samaritans
Tel: 116 123 (24 hours)  

A listening service to help you talk through your concerns, worries and troubles
www.samaritans.org

Our Safe Havens provide out-of-hours help and support to people and their carers who are experiencing a mental health crisis or emotional distress. There are five Safe Havens across Surrey and North East Hampshire which are open evenings, weekends, and bank holidays:

• Safe Haven, Aldershot
• Safe Haven, Epsom
• Safe Haven, Guildford
• Safe Haven, Redhill
• Safe Haven, Woking

Each of our five Safe Havens is now offering people experiencing a mental health crisis access to an out of hours virtual service. This means people can receive expert guidance and support from mental health nurses and trained mental health practitioners at our Safe Havens without leaving home. The virtual Safe Havens are open from 6-11pm, seven days a week – the same hours as our Safe Haven sites.

Guidance on accessing the virtual Safe Havens

The virtual service uses the NHS digital platform called ‘Attend Anywhere’. To access the service, you will need to use the Google Chrome Internet browser on Windows or Android devices and the Safari browser on Apple devices. 

To connect to the virtual service, simply go to the Safe Haven, listed below, that is is closest to you and click on the link.

Epsom virtual Safe Haven, open 6-11pm: click here

Guildford virtual Safe Haven, open 6-11pm:  click here

Redhill virtual Safe Haven, open 6-11pm:  click here

Woking virtual Safe Haven, open 6-11pm: click here

Aldershot virtual Safe Haven, open 6-11pm:  click here

What happens next?

• You will be taken to the landing page of the Safe Haven where you can test your camera and microphone are working
• You will then be asked to 'click' to enter the Safe Haven's virtual waiting room. You cannot to see others here and they can't see you
• Next, you will be asked to provide your contact details so we can reach you if you are disconnected. Your conversation will be private and this information will be deleted after the call
• You will be then be provided with information about the session you are about to join and asked to 'click' to start the call
• A member of the Safe Haven team will great you and begin your consultation
• If the Safe Haven team are busy, they may send you a message telling you how long the wait will be.

To further help people access the virtual Safe Havens, the Surrey Coalition of Disabled People has provided these more detailed guides:

• Step by step user guide - click here
• Easy Read guide - click here

Who will the virtual Safe Haven be particularly helpful for?

• Adults experiencing a mental health or emotional wellbeing crisis who are unable to visit a Safe Haven
• Carers who may be unable to leave the person they are supporting to visit a Safe Haven
• People who are self-isolating or shielding and also experiencing a mental health crisis
• People in remote locations with transport challenges

What if I don't have digital access?

The Safe Haven services across Surrey are still open for in-person visits for people who are experiencing crisis.  You can find out more here.

You can also:

• call Surrey and Borders' Mental Health Crisis Helpline on: 0800 915 4644 or by SMS text: 07717 989 024 
• contact SHOUT by SMS text on 85258
• contact Samaritans on 116 123 or email them at jo@samaritans.org
• download the Stay Alive app on Google play
• go to the Healthy Surrey website for more information about Mental health and emotional wellbeing support in Surrey.

Just Wellbeing offer mental health crisis support for 10 to 17 years olds experiencing anxiety, depression, stress, self harm or who need to talk.

4 Hillside Road
Aldershot, GU11 3NB

Tel: 08000 6141 32 (telephone support is only available during opening times)

Opening times: Tues, Wed, Thurs, Fri, Sun 6:30pm-8:30pm

To find out more about our Trust's suicide prevention work, and resources that might help if you are in a crisis, please visit our Suicide Prevention pages.

Crisis support and guidance can be accessed via Mindworks Surrey.