The NHS’s 111 service is to begin offering crisis mental health support for the first time ever, it has been announced.
In what is a truly groundbreaking move, making England one of the first countries in the world to offer such a service, the NHS has announced that 111 will begin offering a full package of mental health crisis support through one single phone line, 24 hours of the day, seven days a week.
Millions of patients nationwide are set to benefit from the change.
Previously, local health systems had their own separate phone lines for mental health crisis support – which were fast-tracked during the COVID pandemic – that took around 200,000 calls per month, but now, people of all ages who are in crisis or concerned family and loved ones, even including children, can call 111 and select the ‘mental health’ option to speak to a trained mental health professional.
Once the call is made, NHS staff can guide callers with a series of next steps – including organising face-to-face community support, or facilitating access to alternatives services like crisis cafés, ‘safe havens’, and more.
For people who need support at A&E – which is generally if there is a risk to life – every emergency department in England will now also have a liaison psychiatric team available to offer specialist care.
The move to extend the support 111 offers comes after the NHS has invested an extra £2.3 billion into expanding its mental health services.
This latest innovation will help patients in crisis get directed to the support they need quickly.
“We know that record numbers of people are suffering with their mental health,” commented the NHS’s National Director for Mental Health, Claire Murdoch, “and we want to ensure that when people are in crisis, they have easy, straightforward access to the support they need.
“While the NHS made significant progress during the pandemic with local services creating their own crisis phone lines, we want to go a step further by giving people everywhere in England one single point of access via NHS 111, and in doing so, I am extremely proud that we will become one of the first countries in the world to offer a free universal package of support to people through one easy to access phone line.
For the first time, anyone in a mental health crisis can now call 111 and receive support from trained mental health professionals.
“The new integrated service can give people of all ages specialist mental health support and ensure they can be offered face-to-face support in a safe and therapeutic environment, so, if you or someone you know needs urgent mental health support, please call 111, and select the mental health option.”
NHS Talking Therapy Services are also available for people who need help with other mental conditions, such as anxiety, depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, and PTSD, and anyone can refer themselves online via NHS.uk or by contacting their GP.
A full list of mental health support options is available via the NHS.uk website, and free listening services are also provided by charities such as The Samaritans or Shout Crisis text line.
The NHS continues to advise people to call 999 if there is a serious risk to life.
Featured Image – NHS Digital
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Rules for booking driving tests in UK set to change from today to make system ‘fairer’
The rules around booking driving tests in the UK are officially set to change from today in a bid to make the system ‘fairer’.
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has now introduced new rules for car driving test bookings, putting learners ‘firmly in control’ of their own booking, as it is now against the law for third parties – including unofficial test booking and cancellation finder services, as well as driving instructors – to make bookings for someone else.
It will also be a breach of DVSA’s terms and conditions for the booking service for third parties to change, swap, or cancel a driving test for someone else.
Learners should only ever pay the official DVSA fee – which is £62 on weekdays and £75 on evenings, weekends and bank holidays.
The Government says the new rules aim to make booking driving tests ‘fairer’ for learner drivers.
While driving instructors will no longer be able to book tests on behalf of of learners, they will still be able to advise learners on when they are ready to take a test, as well as set their available times to prevent learners from booking tests at times that do not work for them.
Following on from changes to test alterations which were introduced at the end of March, from 9 June 2026, further restrictions will come into force limiting learners to moving their test only to one of the three nearest driving test centres.
The DVSA has also pledged to continue increasing driving examiner capacity to help provide more tests for learners to book.
“Our priority is to stop learners being exploited by third parties, put them in control of their driving test, and make the process fairer by clamping down on businesses that resell tests at inflated prices,” commented Beverley Warmington, who is the DVSA Chief Executive.
“These new measures help bring a halt to a system where the use of bots and third parties increases the amount some learners pay for a test and blocks test availability for many others.
“These measures will help free up appointments for genuine learners who are ready to take their test.”
You can watch The Devil Wears Prada 2 for FREE across Leeds
Thomas Melia
Did you know you can watch The Devil Wears Prada 2 for free across Leeds just by taking a quick trip to the shops?
If you’re eager to watch Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep), Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway) and the Runway Magazine crew on the big screen once again, you can do so for free.
After making its cinema premiere earlier this month, 20 years since the first film, The Devil Wears Prada 2 continues the story with more iconic quotes and a whole host of celebrity cameos.
One of these is pop phenomenon Lady Gaga, who also appears on the soundtrack for this stylish sequel alongside artists like Miley Cyrus, Doechii, and Brit acts Raye and Olivia Dean.
Just like real life, the story follows the real-life fashion news outlet and media brand, Runway Mag, undergoing some major changes.
For instance, they’re wrestling with scrapping print editions of their beloved publication and swapping this for online short-form content.
The sequel to this fashion-focused film also sees role reprisals from Stanley Tucci and Emily Blunt, with new additions from Lucy Liu, Kenneth Branagh and Justin Theroux.
Now, enough of us talking at “a glacial pace”, let’s get all of you fashion fans those free cinema tickets before they go out of style.
An all-new promotion courtesy of not one, but three notable names: The Devil Wears Prada 2, Diet Coke and Sainsbury’s
The UK Supermarket chain is currently running a promotion during the film’s big-screen run, where if you purchase a 30-pack of Diet Coke, you can get free tickets to The Devil Wears Prada 2.
Simply purchase one of the big crates of Diet Coke between Wednesday, 29 April and Tuesday, 19 May, before snapping a picture of your receipt and uploading it online.
So it really is that simple, all you have to do is buy a 30 pack of Diet Coke and get a free cinema ticket for doing so – did somebody say girl maths?
For more info and to upload your receipt, visit the promotional website HERE.
Emily Sergeant -
29th August 2024 
