Access To Crisis Care Via NHS 111 - Mental Health, September 2025

Summary

This publication introduces a newly established data collection for demand and call handling data items related to accessing crisis care via the NHS111 ‘select MH option’. This data will provide important insights into how accessible the crisis care system is helping to identify any gaps or inefficiencies. Additionally, the data will be used to support demand and capacity planning across services enabling better resource allocation and service provision. Benchmarking data will also be made available allowing providers to compare their performance and identify areas for improvement. This information will be invaluable for both operational decision making and strategic planning across the crisis care system.

Background

The NHS Long Term Plan (2019) committed to ensuring that people of all ages can access mental health crisis support 24/7 through a single, simple point of access. During the pandemic, every area established locally run urgent mental health helplines and in April 2024 this ambition was achieved nationally with the launch of 111 ‘select mental health option’, connecting all local services into a consistent national model.

When a caller selects the mental health option their call is routed directly to the local crisis mental health service for their area using interactive voice response (IVR) technology without the need for an additional NHS 111 assessment. This provides faster access and no wrong door approach for anyone in crisis.

Urgent mental health helplines accessible via 111 are commissioned locally and delivered through a mix of NHS trusts, voluntary and community sector partners and in places independent providers. Services differ in scale and maturity, and work is ongoing nationally to improve consistency and data quality.

Currently, 111 ‘select mental health option’ data collection focuses on phone call-based activity as helplines operate differently to NHS 111 physical health services. Referral based activity data for mental health crisis services are instead reported through the Mental Health Services Data Set (MHSDS) with NHS England working with systems and providers to strengthen reporting and ensure it reflects the unique nature of crisis care.