Major expansion of community mental health support

People struggling with their mental health will get help earlier and closer to home, with 159 new NHS mental health facilities opening across England under recently announced plans.

Backed by £343 million, the rollout is the biggest redesign of mental health services in a generation. It includes 100 new community mental health centres, offering walk-in support without a referral and without a months-long wait, and 59 dedicated mental health emergency departments giving people in crisis specialist care in a place designed for them.

Demand for mental health services has risen sharply, particularly among children and young people, with around one in five people experiencing a common mental health condition each year. Too often, people only receive support once they reach crisis point, leaving families without the help they need and placing greater pressure on NHS services.

The new centres will make it far easier for people to get the right help the first time they ask for it, by bringing mental health and specialist teams together under one roof – working alongside GPs, councils, the voluntary sector and families, with direct links into housing and employment support.

The first sites open from autumn this year, with further facilities following from March 2027.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham said:

“Nobody should be left to struggle with their mental health alone. But every day, thousands of people are waiting months for help, then finding the only door open to them is a busy A&E.

These new centres will be a lifeline for so many. They will bring NHS services closer to home, making it easier to get support before problems get worse, and ensuring those in crisis get the right care in the right place.”

Some of the community hubs will be newly built facilities, while others will be in libraries, banks and other community or high street locations to move care closer to where people live, improving access.

They will all be in the heart of the neighbourhoods they serve and designed as welcoming settings with a non-clinical appearance.
Alongside this, 59 new mental health emergency departments will provide fast, same-day specialist support for people experiencing a crisis who are medically fit and do not need treatment in A&E.

Located with emergency departments and working closely with ambulance and police services, they will provide a calm, therapeutic environment where people can be assessed quickly and connected to the right ongoing care, whether that’s inpatient treatment, support at home or community services. The rollout will more than double the number of dedicated emergency departments in England, taking the total to 82.

This is the first phase of a wider rollout set out in the 10 Year Health Plan, backed by £343 million in mental health facilities.

Dr Nick Broughton, National Priority Programme Director for Mental Health, Learning Disability and Neurodevelopmental Conditions, said:
“Across the country, NHS teams are already working to provide mental health support closer to where people live, alongside specialist care for those who need more urgent help.
“The rollout of more community mental health centres and dedicated mental health emergency departments will build on this work, strengthening both early support in the community and care for people in crisis, while helping services work together more effectively around people’s needs.”

Brian Dow, Deputy Chief Executive at Rethink Mental Illness, said:
“Everyone should be able to access mental health support in their local community, when and where they need it.
“The expansion of neighbourhood mental health centres is a vital step towards making this a reality, building on the promising results of existing pilot sites.
“By bringing together treatment and wider support services under one roof, these centres can transform experiences of care, helping people to access support earlier and preventing them from reaching crisis point.”

This announcement supports the government’s mission to shift care from crisis to prevention, helping people get support earlier and closer to home. It forms part of the forthcoming Mental Health Strategy, which will look beyond the NHS to the role of schools, employers, local government and the voluntary sector in supporting good mental health.

The Mental Health Strategy will be informed by the upcoming recommendations from Professor Peter Fonagy’s independent review into prevalence and support for mental health conditions, ADHD and Autism.
By intervening earlier, the government aims to help more children stay in education, more adults remain in or return to work, and reduce the number of people reaching crisis point, helping build a healthier and more resilient Britain.