Crisis care management

If something happens and you find your family in a position of crisis, there is help available. Crisis can mean many things to many people, and in the more complex world of SEN and disability it can be a difficult place to be. If you feel that you need more help to support your family or child / young person please contact Midlands Partnership NHS Foundation Trust’s 24/7 urgent helpline on 0808 196 4501. It's a mental health service offering telephone support, advice and triage. If there's significant risk of serious harm or injury please contact the police.

What is a crisis?

If for any reason you're unable to manage a situation at home and become unable to continue in your caring role, you may feel that you need immediate assistance to remedy the situation. In many cases there will need to be a referral and assessment into a specialist team to support your family. However, there may be times when the concerns are immediate and can't wait to be addressed.

These may include:

• Immediate threat of violence to other family members
• Actual violence to others
• Self-harm that could endanger their life
• Risk of suicide
• Abusive behaviours (including physical, mental, and sexual abuse)

If this happens, you can contact our 24/7 urgent helpline on 0808 196 4501, or if there's significant risk of serious harm or injury please contact the police. You may also be referred to our safeguarding team.

It might seem like a rather difficult choice to make, but at times contacting the police is the best option. They're trained to deal with situations where there's an immediate threat of danger, as well as those involving the complex needs of the individual concerned.

When else might a crisis occur?

Some circumstances may not involve immediate danger or threat, but for families this may be a crisis point. These may include:

• Significant personal health changes for carers, such as hospitalisation or long term illness (eg cancer, multiple sclerosis, motor neuron disease)
• Significant and unforeseen care needs of other family members
• Child / young person’s needs become too much for the parent carer / carer to manage daily

In these circumstances your needs would be assessed on a case-by-case basis. This may mean that emergency mental health support could be offered to the child / young person to help deal with these changes in the short term while longer term arrangements are organised. Alternatively, it could mean that you're referred to a targeted or specialist service immediately for long-term support, which may also include more than just mental health and emotional wellbeing support. This could include using our Short Breaks, Disabled Children’s Team, or Early Help services.