New mental health service put to consultation

North Yorkshire County Council currently provides two telephone support services – CrisisCall and the Mental Health Support Line - for people who have mental health needs and are worried and upset or need someone to give them advice or support. The two services cover different areas of the county and operate in different ways.

It wants to develop a new service that will improve ease of access and value for money for the council, and have developed a proposal that would see the two services replaced with one consistent service across the entire county.

It would also offer a text, email and web chat service, so people could choose how they access the service, and each method would be staffed by call handlers.

The new service could also be available out of normal working hours and at weekends, rather than all the time. During working hours people would need to contact their existing care coordinator or other support services.

The consultation is open until Sunday December 21. To add your views visit www.northyorks.gov.uk/mhsupportservices

All responses to the questionnaire are anonymous.