Crisis Resolution and Home Treatment Service

Service Description
A crisis resolution team (sometimes called home treatment) provides intensive support for people in mental health crisis in their own home, or other suitable alternative accommodation, such as a crisis house or hostel.

The crisis resolution team will stay involved until the problem is resolved. It is designed to provide prompt and effective home treatment, including medication, in order to prevent hospital admissions and give support to informal carers. It will also act as a ‘gatekeeper’ to other mental health services such as acute inpatient care.

Crisis resolution teams have the following characteristics:

• may be multi-disciplinary or purely a nursing team (the Knowsley team is multi-disciplinary)
• availability to respond 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
• staff in frequent contact with service users, often seeing them at least once on each shift
• provision of intensive contact over a short period of time (max 12 weeks)
• staff stay involved until the problem is resolved
  

The local Crisis Resolution Team provide the following services:

• Out of hours mental health assessments for adults in crisis
• Weekend support (in Knowsley area) for clients in their own homes or at alternative centres in Knowsley
• Out of hours support to the Sherdley Inpatient Unit, for patients in crisis
• Intensive Home Support (Knowsley) - 24hr service, up to 4 visits per day, usually for illnesses such as psychosis, mania or severe depression.
• Early Discharge Planning (Knowsley) - from inpatient units to the individuals home

Key Services
A service working with people in crisis exhibiting signs of a severe mental illness, providing home treatment and assessment 24 hours a day

Availability
24 hours, seven days a week

Location
Dudley Wallis Centre. Delph Lane , Whiston , L35 7LS

Target Groups
For people aged 16-65 years and above who are experiencing a mental health crisis and are in need of urgent intervention.

How to Access the Service

• GP/local doctor referral (out of hours assessment only)
• Specialist mental health service such as Emergency Duty Teams(out of hours assessment only)
• Care co-ordinator, consultant psychiatrist (for home support)
• Newby Drive / Huyton Core and Cluster (can refer people staying at their centre)
• Referrals accepted from police surgeon and other statutory agencies (out of hours assessment only)