The Edinburgh Crisis Centre says the volume of requests it faces for urgent mental health crisis has grown rapidly in the decade it has been open
The workload at Scotland’s only mental health crisis support service which can offer immediate face to face support and accommodation has quadrupled in the past decade.
The Edinburgh Crisis Centre, which provides help for those in the capital who are experiencing intense and overwhelming difficulties and may be considering suicide, reported the staggering rise as it released figures to mark its 10th anniversary.
In its first full year following opening in August 2006 the centre was contacted by just 392 people compared with 1561 last year.
The centre, which has 14 staff and calls on a small group of volunteers, is unique in Scotland in offering quick-access one to one and short-stay residential mental health crisis support, alongside a 24 hour a day, 365 days a year confidential freephone, text and email support service.
It is not unusual that we get several calls in the space of a few hours from people who are extremely distressed and need support immediately
Run by mental health charity Penumbra, it is funded jointly by NHS Lothian and the City of Edinburgh Council.
It aims to help those with difficulties such as extreme anxiety or depression and sees numbers particularly increase over the summer months when so many people are in Edinburgh during the festivals.
Demand for the centre peaked in 2014 when 1869 people contacted it for help, he added.
Nigel Henderson, chief executive of Penumbra, praised the service for its continued work over the past decade and called for it to be replicated across the country.
“A mental health crisis is an extremely difficult thing to experience and it is vital people can access support quickly,” he said.
“Here in Edinburgh people can contact the crisis centre, but it is really concerning that similar provision isn’t available across Scotland, particularly in our big cities.”
The accumulative number of overnight stays at the centre has increased from 35 nights in 2008-09 when it began offering short-stay residential support to 325 nights last year.
Visits to the centre for one to one support has also risen from 138 in 2007-08 to a peak of 760 in 2013-14, before falling back to 620 for 2015-16.
“There is constant demand for support from the crisis centre,” manager Barrie Hunter said.
“It is not unusual that we get several calls in the space of a few hours from people who are extremely distressed and need support immediately.
“Despite this I think there are still lots of people who don’t know we are here.
“We are the only mental health crisis support service in Scotland where you can ring up and get face to face support, potentially on the same day, and stay overnight if you need to.”
To mark its 10 year milestone the centre recently held a public event at Leith Ex Servicemen’s Club where Malcolm Chisholm, former MSP and minister for health and community care, was guest of honour.
If you are experiencing a mental health crisis you can contact the Edinburgh Crisis Centre on 0808 801 0414 (freephone), 0797 442 9075 (text) or email [email protected]. A free translation service is available for people who do not speak English as their first language.
