A specialist team has launched in Oxford City and North East Oxfordshire offering care and support for people experiencing mental health crisis.

The Crisis Resolution and Home Treatment Team will offer emergency assessment for people aged 18 to 65 experiencing an acute deterioration of their mental health with the aim of providing care and support at home where and when they need it most, helping people avoid a hospital admission.

The move sees the expansion of the work of the Oxford Home Treatment Team established in summer 2020.

The new Crisis Resolution and Home Treatment Team will respond to meet the acute needs of patients currently under a range of mental health teams, including the Early Intervention Service and Perinatal Mental Health Service, who would previously have accessed Oxford City Adult Mental Health Team’s acute care out-of-hours Step-Up service outside of office hours.

The Crisis Resolution and Home Treatment Team will operate 7am to midnight, seven days a week.

The Oxford City & North East Oxfordshire Adult Mental Health Team will continue to offer routine and urgent mental health care Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm.

The mental health Night Team will also continue to provide care for acutely unwell people between 9pm and 7am, seven days a week.

Clinical team lead Kate Parry said:

“The Home Treatment Team was established in 2020 to facilitate early discharges from inpatient stays by offering care and treatment to people in their own homes. We are very excited to be able to offer Crisis Resolution to our patients, which aims to prevent admission to hospital.

“Our friendly and enthusiastic team are dedicated to providing our patients with the highest quality care in their own homes, and we are proud to be asked to provide this additional service ahead of our scheduled expansion; a testament to the success of our first year.”

Referral

Referral to the Crisis Resolution Home Treatment Team is via a health or social care professional. Professionals who can refer include:

• GPs
• Secondary care Mental Health Teams and Oxfordshire Mental Health Partnership services, including Oxford Safe Haven
• Street Triage, South Central Ambulance Service Triage and Emergency Department Psychiatric Service
• Talking Space Plus
• Inpatient services
• Approved Mental Health Professional Service (Oxfordshire County Council)