What happens when you call the crisis team

[SmallBirdie]

Can someone who has been through this please tell me what happens when you call the crisis team to attend another adult.

How long does it take for someone to arrive?

Do they send 1 person? Or more?

What do they do if the patient refuses entry or refuses to speak to them?

Do they arrange anything like follow up help, or a referral to services?

Would they force the person to go to hospital or to referral services if the person was not in immediate danger but was extremely unwell?

It seems there’s so little help out there unless the unwell person wants it, even if they’re clearly unwell. In this situation the person is clearly in extreme crisis but doesn’t want help, they just want to stay unwell because they think they deserve it.

It’s totally situation dependent OP, there simply is not a single answer to any of your questions unfortunately.

How long it takes them to arrive depends on how busy they are and who is available, as well as if there are any other people in more severe need, it’s a triage system like most things. Same with how many people attend, depends on the situation and the availability.

If patient refuses entry their hands really can be tied, if they don’t want help etc. Someone can only be forced if they are deemed not to have capacity to make that decision themselves, it sounds like this person understands and is choosing to be unwell which is not the same as not the same thing as not having capacity.

They can provide referrals and sign post to other support, offer check ins and contacts but again, they can’t force someone to do it if they don’t want to.

They can involve the police to gain entry if they believe the person is a danger to themselves or others. And in several cases near me they've just advised that you call the police and dont come out themselves at all, they are very much under resourced.

It is much better if the person realises they are unwell and wants to be helped.

In my experience, when paramedics called the crisis team after a suicide attempt as an alternative to taking me to A+E, two clueless women turned up a day later, spoke to me loudly and slowly, didn't assess properly, and criticised my furniture then left and wrote a letter saying I didn't need follow up. They just left me to die basically.

I tried to end my life 7 times in total. 6 of those times could have been avoided if the crisis team had done anything at all to help, and thank god none of those times were successful. When I put in a complaint, the two women backed each other to the hilt and lied to cover what had happened. Who are they going to believe? Obviously not the mentally ill person. I eventually was able to access CMHT through social services putting pressure on the MH team to sort this out (SS got involved because I had a baby).

And I wanted help.

I hope others have had better experiences. I'm sorry, this probably isn't very reassuring.

Thanks for replying. The person in my life doesn’t want help. They think they deserve to be miserable. I have no idea what to do.

In the experience of someone very close to me they do very little. No-one has ever been sent, they just talk on the phone. Occasionally there has been a very belated follow-up from other services (also phone call, never any visits) who have then also failed to actually do anything.

Don't be put off trying, you might have a better experience and you should absolutely call them if needed. I just wanted to warn you not to have too high expectations.

Are you related to them op? You can speak to services about your concerns…and they can make a plan with you

Depends on the circumstances but most likely they will do nothing if the call has not come from the person themselves or next of kin.

They will probably offer you generic advice & signpost to places like GP, online resources & advise to attend a&e or call 999 in an emergency.

It does differ by area but most places now you don't self refer to crisis teams. Most crisis support is by phone or on an app based listening & signposting service.

The threshold for home treatment teams is high (mainly to try to avert an imminent admission or to support people to be discharged from hospital sooner). It also provides support to someone who does need immediate admission but there are no beds.

The process for referral for home treatment crisis team is either through community team, a&e or following MHA assessment/S136 etc.

If there is a genuine serious & immediately life threatening concern then 999 is the best option. There's a move to try to get ambulance service to respond to mental health emergencies but realistically the police are still dealing with a lot so be prepared for the police to attend. Police cannot detain on a S136 if the person is in their own home.

People have the right to refuse mental health treatment (as for any other physical illness) unless there is a serious risk of harm to themselves or others.

You can contact Rethink, a mental health charity, for advice.

You can phone NHS Direct option 2 and speak to the mental health team.

You can contact Adult Social services safeguarding.

You can ask the police to do a welfare check.

You can contact their GP.

Hub of Hope may have useful local services.

In my experience I was told that I didn’t sound depressed on the phone and my Dr shouldn’t have put me through as an emergency referral. I’d been to the drs a few hours earlier extremely suicidal. That was back in February and I’ve heard nothing since.

Most police force areas in England have moved to the 'Right care, right person' model & no longer do 'welfare checks' they will signpost you to GP, adult social care, or ambulance instead. Police would only respond if there is an immediate threat to life or if there is crime taking place.

OP I've had many admissions due to severe mental illness & regularly under home treatment crisis team. I've also worked as a mental health advocate & been on an advisory panel for 'right care, right person' & the mental health crisis care concordat.

If you've got any specific questions then I'm happy to answer - appreciate you may not want to divulge details.

Postcode lottery.
have bipolar and f all happens but then my trust is consistently the worst performing NHS trust and has just come out of being in special measures for a decade and more so low expectations

My gp referred me to the crisis team yesterday .

i got lucky i think actually was helpful .

i have been referred to the wrong part of Camhs - so he sorted that , gave me , help forward .

i left feeling more hopeful - although they closed the case .

It does depend how unwell they are. How willing they are to talk .

Sounds like you live where i do. All I ever get told is i have capacity so it's my choice if I want to off myself.

I called for a family member after they were found wondering around barefoot outside.

it took two days for a call back
they wouldn’t speak to me only the person I called for who couldn’t string a stance together.

they told family member that as they had someone with them and went in immediate danger they were safe and that was the end of that call

wqs absolutely hideous.
I really hope you get more help than we did

If that happens again you need to take them to a&e or call 999 if you can't get them there safely.

The fact they said to you because they had a family member with them their fine. They said to me because I was able to ring myself it meant I wasn't in crisis. I just dont think they wanna work.

It depends on loads of things. I manage a crisis team. If we deemed the person needed a response within 4hrs or 24hrs we'd send two people but not all crisis teams work in the same way. Some would only send one.

I'd make a list of your concerns and give your team a call. They should explore things with you and formulate a plan. Even if their plan isn't to come and assess they should give recommendations.

The crisis team are a waste of space. I'm not even sure what they're for.

The things I've read in a lengthy inquest report about them. I should have gone to the press with it.

I asked them once what they are actually there for it didnt go down well but I was genuinely curious as what their job role was as they've been nothing but dismissive and actually dangerous at times when iv had dealings with them. I got told I was rude and they hung up on me for asking. I actually think they don't even know.
We had similar at my bf inquests the lies where unbelievable they said they had no immediate concerns and didn't think he was actively suicidal. He had attempted 3 times within 2 months is life ended on the fourth time. They knew exactly what was going on and didn't do a thing to stop it, nobody did.

Hugs @feelingbleh good old Norfolk and Suffolk eh

I had bad audible hallucinations last night. I was really scared by one of them and had to put the light on them. Also my dead mum visited me. Which was awful. For her & me. I told the duty nurse today but he wasn’t at all concerned, well I have Schizoaffective and I’ve had a virus recently so these experiences can be normal. I’m terrified of sleeping tonight though.
i live with psychotic experiences, went to work a normal shift earlier, felt like unaliving last night but didn’t waste my time telling anyone.
Look, No one in authority cares if you are unwell unless you are literally a threat to others / bother other’s lifestyles. That’s how it seems??

Oh gosh. I’ve only just seen this thread but have recent personal experience.

I went to A&E following an overdose. Crisis Team came to see me, explained the community support offered is an appointment every other day with a 24 hr mobile number in between. They asked if I was confident I could keep myself safe at home. I said no, because that was the truth. They found me a bed at an inpatient facility 10 minutes later.

On discharge, they saw me every 48 hours & were amazing. It’s obviously regional.

Definitely regional after an overdose i ended up with a bleed on the brain I was unconscious they assumed it was the overdose and treated me for that and missed the bleed when I was conscious and out of resus I had a mh assessment don't remember a thing about it I didn't even know where I was they discharged me told me to call myself a taxi as I had no way to get home and I was in a hospital gown as they had cut my clothes off. No follow up no nothing. Other times iv been suicidal iv been told I have capacity so basically to get on with it.