Jersey is planning its first round-the-clock walk-in centre for people experiencing a mental-health crisis following a surge in demand for its “overstretched” crisis service.
Health managing director Andy Weir revealed that crisis team requests had grown by 49% since the first quarter of last year – without any increase in the team’s capacity.
“It’s stretched, it’s overstretched, and that’s creating some problems for us,” he told the Health and Social Security Scrutiny Panel today.
Mr Weir said the Island’s first walk-in crisis centre would give Islanders somewhere to seek mental-health support at any hour.
The facility would form part of a £7 million redevelopment of the government-owned La Motte Street site to create a new adult mental-health day centre and community hub.
Mr Weir noted that Jersey is currently “one of the only jurisdictions” where people having a mental-health crisis are told to go to the Emergency Department.
“A&E is the last place for you to be if you’re having a mental health crisis, unless you have a physical reason to be there as well,” he said.
The proposed hub would offer crisis assessments alongside a wider range of daytime support, with health services and charities working from the same site.
Mr Weir said demand for the crisis service had grown by 49% since the first quarter of last year, while its capacity had stayed the same.
Around 90% of people in crisis were still seen within four hours, he added, but the rising workload was creating “problems”.
The plans also include respite care for people who need urgent mental-health support but may not need a hospital bed. Mr Weir said Jersey currently had no such provision.
“If someone is assessed in need of urgent mental health care, but they can’t go home, they have to come into hospital – and sometimes that’s not necessary,” he explained.
The La Motte Street plans would also bring together health services and charities, with rooms for assessments, therapy, group activities and training.
A community café is proposed as part of a wider effort to make the site welcoming and reduce the stigma around mental illness.
The scheme includes short-term accommodation for people needing urgent support or respite. Mr Weir said that, without such an option, people who could not safely return home sometimes had to be admitted to hospital when it was unnecessary.
Asked how the centre would differ from existing services such as the YES Project and the Listening Lounge, Mr Weir said the new centre would serve people with more serious or long-term mental-health needs.
No opening date for the centre was given during the hearing.
