Reducing the burden on Welsh ambulance services and emergency departments: a mental health 999 clinical support desk initiative
Intended for healthcare professionals
Evidence and practice    

Reducing the burden on Welsh ambulance services and emergency departments: a mental health 999 clinical support desk initiative

Mark Jones Consultant mental health nurse, Mental Health, Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust, Cwmbran, Wales
Stephen Clarke National clinical lead for mental health, NHS Wales Executive, Cardiff, Wales
Simon Amphlett Clinical lead specialist, Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust, Cwmbran, Wales

Why you should read this article:
  • To understand why demand for ambulances has increased in recent years

  • To reflect on why people experiencing mental health issues often contact emergency services

  • To learn how mental health professionals working within 999 call centres can help to reduce demand on emergency services

Demand for ambulances has increased significantly in recent years due, for example, to ongoing public health issues and lack of availability of alternative healthcare services. However, as demand increases, so too do ambulance waiting times, partly due to significant pressures on emergency departments (EDs) resulting in handover delays. People experiencing mental health distress who cannot access the care they need often contact ambulance services or present to the ED. Ambulance trusts across the UK are attempting to address this by employing mental health professionals (MHPs) in various capacities. In this article, the authors explore some of the issues related to mental health-related calls to 999 services. The authors then describe a service improvement initiative in Wales which involves MHPs working in 999 call centre clinical support desk services to improve the quality of care delivered to people with mental health issues and reduce demand on ambulance and ED services.

Emergency Nurse. 32, 5, 14-19. doi: 10.7748/en.2024.e2195

Peer review

This article has been subject to external double-blind peer review and checked for plagiarism using automated software

Correspondence

mark.jones34@wales.nhs.uk

Conflict of interest

None declared

Jones M, Clarke S, Amphlett S (2024) Reducing the burden on Welsh ambulance services and emergency departments: a mental health 999 clinical support desk initiative. Emergency Nurse. doi: 10.7748/en.2024.e2195

Published online: 13 February 2024

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