A mental health crisis line has been launched by East London Foundation Trust (ELFT) to support people living and working in Tower Hamlets.

The mental health crisis line is available 24 hours a day and callers will be given support and advice from mental health professionals.

It has been designed as a ‘first port of call’ for anyone experiencing a mental health crisis and to remove the need for those people to seek help via hospital A&E services.

The service has been funded by the Tower Hamlets Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and went live live on Monday 8 October, 2018.

The Tower Hamlets Crisis Line number is: 0207 771 5807.

Calls are charged at local rates.

“This is a service to help people in Tower Hamlets when they are experiencing a real mental health situation and they cannot reach other healthcare professionals who would normally provide the support they need,” said Edwin Ndlovu, ELFT Borough Director for Tower Hamlets.

“The team can help assess the urgency of the situation and ensure the appropriate advice is provided, help is put in place or individuals are signposted to the team or service best placed to provide the care needed.”

He added: “It will be fast, effective support and will save people the time and effort of travelling to A&E and what can be a long wait to be seen.”

The launch of the new service now means ELFT provides mental health crisis lines across all three London boroughs where it provides mental health services: City & Hackney; Tower Hamlets and Newham.