Mental health crisis support: What are we hearing in Kent and Medway?
We found:
- People told us about understanding, supportive and helpful care from professionals and how positive interactions had enabled them to manage their mental health, keep them safe and help them to recover.
- We heard the most positive feedback about voluntary, community and social enterprise services and Kent and Medway Safe Havens.
- Other key service types were community mental health teams, general practice, home treatment and rapid response, the Kent and Medway Mental Health Crisis Line, emergency departments, children and young people’s mental health services, talking therapies, liaison psychiatry, and mental health hospitals.
- Key issues were waiting times for crisis support, ineffective responses and unsuccessful coordination or continuity of care between services.
- We heard the most about crisis support for people aged 16 to 25, 35 to 44, and 55 to 64.
“It makes such a difference when you’re supported by people who understand and treat you as a person and things are explained to you.”
In December 2024 and February 2025, we presented initial summary reports to key stakeholders in the Kent and Medway mental health system on what people had told us about mental health crisis support. As a result, improvements were made to public awareness of, access to and coordination of crisis services. In June 2025, we shared this report with the mental health team at NHS Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board, with recommendations based on people’s feedback and suggestions. They are now working with mental health care providers to improve people’s experiences of crisis support.
“It was better when you could call the crisis team and speak to people who know you who can help calm you.”
We make further recommendations throughout this full report for key services and the wider integrated care system. These align with the draft Kent and Medway suicide and self-harm prevention strategy for 2026 to 2030 in terms of the priorities of supporting efforts to improve support for those in crisis and maximising our collective impact.
In October 2025, we shared this report with the Kent and Medway suicide prevention programme team, senior and operational leaders within Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust, Public Health, and safe havens, with a call to action for further positive change. We are also sharing this report with key members of adult social care in Kent and Medway, all four health and care partnership leaders, and general practice leadership.
Full responses from services and the wider system to our report and recommendations are included in the report. Examples of actions taken so far include:
- To support our recommendation on preventative support for people in or at risk of mental health crisis, NHS Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board is expanding the safe haven model to a third operating 24/7, with all 11 interoperable, ensuring a 24/7 community crisis alternative, and is also expanding community crisis recovery beds.
- In line with our recommendations, Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust are making improvements to waiting times and crisis support, coordination and continuity of care, fostering a culture of compassionate care, bridging service gaps and inequalities and improving crisis line performance and integrated care.
To read the full report, download the PDF by clicking the button below.
Get in touch
If you or a loved one would like to share your experiences of health or care services, please get in touch – Have your say | Healthwatch Kent or Have your say | Healthwatch Medway.
Or call our freephone number on 0808 801 0102.
Text ‘Need BSL’ to 07525 861 639 for our British Sign Language communicator to contact you.
If you work in or alongside health or social care and would like to discuss how you might use the insights in this report, we would love to speak to you – please get in touch via info@healthwatchkent.co.uk.
Support information
In need of support now?
Mental Health Wellbeing Information Hub – Help and support if you are feeling anxious or stressed, down or low.
- Children and young people – specific services to support you are just a text, call, or click on a website or app away.
Kent and Medway Mental Health Crisis Line – Anyone experiencing an urgent mental health crisis can call 111 and select the option for mental health to speak to a specially-trained mental health practitioner. If there is a risk to your life or someone else’s, please do not call 111. Dial 999 instead.
- Release the Pressure have a highly trained and experienced team available 24/7 to provide expert support no matter what you are going through. Don’t suffer in silence. You can call the helpline on 0800 1070 160, text the word SHOUT to 85258, or use Rethink's webchat service.
Kent and Medway Safe Havens offer people aged 18+ free mental health and crisis support in a welcoming, comfortable, non-judgmental, and non-clinical environment. This is a drop-in service, with no referral or appointment required, via face-to-face or virtual support.
- Samaritans – Call us any time, day or night. Whatever you’re going through, from any phone for free on 116 123.
