Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust provides 24-hour access to mental health care, advice, support and treatment. By calling 0800 013 0710, you can speak to a member of the team where you can discuss your current mental health needs.

Who can access the mental health services?

Anyone who lives within Lancaster, Morecambe, South Cumbria and surrounding areas, who feels that they need urgent mental health care or have an enquiry about their routine care.

Areas include the following, but this is not an exhaustive list:

  • Barrow in Furness
  • Grange over Sands
  • Carnforth
  • Milnthorpe
  • Kendal
  • Lancaster
  • Morecambe
  • Millom
  • Ulverston

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

Not only can you call us direct, 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. Call 0800 013 0710.

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 at this time.

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 to 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 contact centre and Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust works to very 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 of your contact with us.

For further details on how your information is stored, please visit the Lancashire and South Cumbria Foundation Trust website.

Interpreters

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

Travel information

For details of local transport, including timetables, please visit Cumbria County Council’s website.

What if I have a comment, suggestion, compliment or complaint about the service?

If you want to make a comment, suggestion, compliment, or complaint you can:

talk to the people directly involved in your care ask a member of staff for a feedback form, or complete a form on the Trust website (click on ‘tell us how we’re doing’)

telephone PALS: 0800 234 6088

We are always looking at ways to improve our services. Your feedback allows us to monitor the quality of our services and act upon issues that you bring to our attention.

How do I contact the Service?

You can contact the team by calling 0800 013 0710.

Useful local contacts for Lancaster, Morecambe and South Cumbria residents

National contacts

Useful Websites

If you have some concerns, questions or need advice on our services, you can contact the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) on 0800 234 6088 or contact the PALS Team via email.