Additional wellbeing support over Christmas period in Guernsey

In a new scheme which recognises that the holiday period can be particularly difficult for some islanders’ mental wellbeing, the Committee is introducing an additional temporary service that will provide some wellbeing support for anyone who is feeling isolated or experiencing moderate levels of stress or distress.

This is not to replace any existing mental health service, but is additional for anyone who feels they need additional support but who might not ordinarily either seek it or meet the clinical threshold for more acute support services. Anyone who requires support from the specialist secondary care mental health service should still seek referral through their GP.

The new support service over the Christmas period will work as follows:

• An individual experiencing isolation or with concerns relating to their general mental wellbeing, including moderate levels of stress and distress, can attend the Emergency Department where they will be triaged before being passed through to a mental health professional who will be able to spend time listening and offer ways for individuals to find ongoing support.
• This service will be available between the hours of 6pm and 10pm from 20th December up to and including 2nd January 2022. The mental health professional will see individuals in the Oberlands centre.
• To ensure that no one is prevented from attending the Emergency Department to access this service at a time of need, the Committee has agreed that there will be no charge for either the wellbeing support or for being triaged through the Emergency Department for this purpose.

Deputy Al Brouard, President of the Committee for Health & Social Care, said: “In line with the Government Work Plan, the Committee has been working towards a pilot arrangement with the third sector for some “drop-in” out of hours support to be available on a pilot basis. While these arrangements are not yet in place, we know that Christmas can be a difficult time of the year for some islanders’ mental wellbeing, and we wanted to increase our capacity over the festive period to help those who might be in need of additional wellbeing support.

“Our thinking here is particularly around people who might need some extra help but who wouldn’t necessarily meet the clinical threshold for more acute services, and who would benefit from out of hours support. While this ‘pilot of a pilot’ won’t initially go as far as we intended, the Committee will build upon this further and discussions surrounding a partnership approach with the third sector to provide out of hours drop-in crisis support also continue in parallel.”

Fiona Robertson, Associate Director, Mental Health and Adult Disability, said: “We are always examining ways we can improve and broaden the support we offer the community. I would encourage anyone who is struggling during this coming Christmas period, who feels like they need some additional support and wants to speak to a mental health practitioner, to please make use of this temporary service. We don’t want individuals experiencing unnecessary stress or distress. All of the professionals who work in mental health, do so because they truly care about people and want to help.”

Deputy Tina Bury, Vice-President of the Committee for Health & Social Care, said: “Recognising calls from the community to improve the support we offer islanders within mental health provision is something that is really important to the Committee, and the States as a whole as highlighted in the Government Work Plan. Even though a small first step, we hope that this new temporary service will help people who are going through a difficult period. Isolation and loneliness can be heightened at this time of year so we hope that this accessible way of speaking to a mental health professional could really help anyone experiencing that.”