The Mental Health Helplines Partnership is a national partnership supported by the National Institute of Mental Health in England (NIMHE). This project followed on from work by NHS Direct to develop a Protocol/ Agreement for the referral of callers from NHS Direct with mental health issues to mental health helplines.

Helplines listed as working with callers needing support, info rmation, advice for emotional distress or mental health in England and Wales were invited in early 2001 to contribute to a mapping exercise conducted by the Telephone Helplines Association (THA) and supported by the Department of Health.

The Mental Health Helplines Partnership is a core number of helplines meeting on a regular basis to discuss, develop and improve the presence of mental health helplines within the larger NHS provision.

Helplines in the Partnership include:

• Statutory sector helplines: helplines within Primary Care Trusts, and NHS Direct  

• Helplines delivered for a statutory sector funder: voluntary sector helplines funded by the Primary Care Trusts and Social Services, with a contractual agreement to deliver local services, usually out of hours, crisis services

• Voluntary sector helplines: this is a varied group including generic and specialist  mental health services, working nationally and/or locally providing information and support.

Regular meetings of the Partnership from 2001 facilitated by THA led to the following outcomes:

• Quality Standard Workbook for Mental Health Helplines (2003)

• ‘Help on the Line’ a publication for funders & commissioners of mental health helplines (2003)

• Independent research by public survey commissioned to gauge public awareness and use of mental health helplines (2002)

These productions were formally launched by the then Minister of State for Health, at a conference in May 2003. Subsequently THA developed for, and in consultation with, the Partnership, two new productions: accredited training for mental health helpline workers, and Confidentiality Good Practice Guidelines.

At the May 2003 event the Department of Health announced non-recurrent 3-year investment to support helpline infrastructure and capacity for improving access.

The Department of Health commissioned PricewaterhouseCoopers to develop an Investment Framework, which placed service user needs at the centre of service development whilst recognising the value and diverse range of helpline providers.

The Investment Framework recognises that recurrent funding for Mental Health Helplines is being devolved and joint-commissioning arrangements led by Primary Care Trusts (PCTs). The future will see non statutory sector and statutory sector services working together to provide an overall service provision, as defined in Standard 3 of the National Service Framework.

The Investment Framework aims to provide the Partnership with the tools to develop both capacity and service governance to meet key National Service Framework targets. The outcomes identified by PricewaterhouseCoopers in consultation with the members of the Partnership were three clear funding streams; ‘to collectively procure technology’, ‘shared services’ and ‘targeted investment’. In addition, a further recommendation was to establish a Partnership Forum Steering Group.

Representatives from member helplines have been elected to the Steering Group to consult and take decisions for the future of the Partnership, and the Steering Group is now implementing the funding streams identified.

Mental Health Helpline Worker Training

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