Central and West Lancashire

Accessing mental health support in Central and West Lancashire

Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust provides 24 hour access to mental health care, advice, support and treatment. By calling 0800 0130 708, you can speak to a member of the team and discuss your current mental health needs.

Who can access the mental health services?

Anyone who lives across Central and West Lancashire who feels that they need urgent mental health care or has an enquiry about their routine care. Areas include the following, but this is not an exhaustive list:

• Preston
• Bamber Bridge
• Euxton
• Ormskirk
• Chorley
• Fulwood
• Longton
• Barton
• Leyland
• Hutton
• Skelmersdale
• Aughton

You do not need to have used any mental health services before or previously been diagnosed with a mental health problem.

A friend, carer or family member can also call the team if they are concerned for your wellbeing.

You can also be referred by your GP, social care professional or a voluntary organisation.

If you urgently need specialist advice, even if you have not been diagnosed with a mental health problem, you can still talk to a member of the team who can advise you.

What kind of help can I expect?

We will work with you, your family and other agencies to allow quick access to services that will support you.

Our team is made up of qualified mental health clinicians and experienced support staff skilled in talking to people in distress and providing guidance to help you manage the situation and your feelings. They have information on all the health, social and voluntary services available to support you. They will be able to refer you or make you an appointment if it is needed.

From our conversation with you, a member of the team may arrange for you to receive support over the phone or for a mental health practitioner to see you at home, at a GP practice or another mutually agreed place to allow us to gather further information about your current mental health needs. We can also offer you information about other services that could assist you.

The team is supported by clinicians from specialist areas of care such as:

• Children’s and young people’s mental health services
• Learning disabilities services
• Eating disorder services
• Older people’s services

The team recognise that some people need to be seen quickly and in these cases we will aim to provide a telephone response within an hour and, if needed, a face-to-face appointment that same day. The mental health practitioner who attends will help you work out what support you need and be able to give you advice and information. If they think that you need extra support and help from mental health services, they will be able to organise this for you.

What about confidentiality?

Everyone in the Initial Response Service works to strict rules about confidentiality; however, there may be instances where it may be necessary to share information with other professionals. If you have any concerns about confidentiality, please talk to a member of staff.

We will keep a record of your contact with our service and also provide your GP with a summary.

For further details on how your information is stored, please visit our access to health records page.

Interpreters

If you need an interpreter, please let us know and we will arrange this for you.

If you are part of the Deaf community and need to access Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust’s mental health services whether for urgent or routine care, the support of a BSL interpreter is available and they will help you to communicate with our call handlers or mental health practitioners. 

Connect to a BSL Interpreter here.