AN out-of-hours Surrey ‘lifeline’ for young people aged 11 to 18 needing mental health support won the Crisis Services award at the first ever Children and Young People’s Mental Health Positive Practice Awards 2018.

The service provides telephone support seven days per week for young people experiencing an emotional or mental health crisis, along with two respite beds for short overnight stays.

It also provides outreach to young people in mental health settings, such as hospitals and assessment suites. They may also be supported with visits to their home.

The care and support children and young people receive helps reduce the need for them to be admitted to A&E or to either paediatric or mental health wards. It also helps to keep families together and to prevent the breakdown of care placements.

Young people or their families or carers can refer themselves to the Extended Hope service at times of emotional or mental health crisis.

Extended Hope is managed by Surrey County Council working with Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and funded by the county council and local clinical commissioning groups. It was set up following a successful bid for an innovation grant from the Department for Education.

Trust director Justine Leonard, said: “I’m delighted that Extended Hope has received the recognition it deserves. The team has worked tirelessly to prevent many young people in Surrey attending A&E, as well as preventing paediatric ward stays and the breakdown of care placements – so to be recognised for this on a national level is a great achievement.”

Clare Curran, Surrey County Council’s cabinet member for children, added: “This national recognition is richly deserved. Not only does this ground-breaking service reduce the need for young people to be admitted to hospital, it also keeps them close to their families and helps ensure stable placements for children in care.

“It shows how organisations can work together for Surrey’s young people - by joining forces with health services, we can tailor the right support for their needs at times of emotional crisis and provide a service that is both effective for them and cost effective for the system.”

In its first nine months, Extended Hope’s telephone support prevented 126 psychiatric admissions, 92 A&E admissions and 53 paediatric ward stays. York Consulting, an independent business consultancy, estimated the cost benefit of these preventions equalled a saving of £3 to every £1 invested in Extended Hope.