She claims her cousin waited on the line for 17 minutes, then gave up and drove to the Humber Bridge with the intention of taking his life – changes have since been made
Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust said to call 999 for mental health emergencies
A woman has complained about a 24-hour mental health helpline in Hull which she claims let down her cousin in his time of need. She said he called the number when he felt suicidal and listened to a pre-recorded message that told him to imagine he was on a beach.
The woman, who also has mental health issues and wished to be anonymous, said: “I personally have called it on purpose, and you get put through to an automated service which tells you to breathe in and breathe out. Considering we live near a major bridge, it’s not satisfactory at all.”
She said the free phone number, 0800 138 0990, can be called directly or people are put through to it when they call 111. The woman said her cousin called the number and listened to the message for 17 minutes, but there was “no one there”.
Not knowing if anyone would ever pick up his call, she said her cousin hung up and drove to the Humber Bridge with the intention of taking his life. “Fortunately, I managed to catch him in time,” she said.
The woman added that she had called repeatedly and nobody had answered. “Imagine the amount of people that have tried to access this service and there is no-one there,” she said.
If you need support
- Call 999 or go to A&E: If you or someone else is in danger.
- Call 111: For urgent mental health help that isn’t a 999 emergency, select the mental health option.
- Contact Samaritans: Call 116 123 anytime for a 24-hour helpline.
- Text SHOUT: Text SHOUT to 85258 for 24/7 crisis text service.
- The Humber Wellbeing Hub has a list of resources and contacts available. Click here to see them.
Hull Live called the number and listened to the pre-recorded message for two minutes, which played music and told us to “breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth”. It was not clear if anybody would pick up.
We contacted Humber Teaching NHS Foundation, which is responsible for the service, for comment. A spokesperson said in a statement the number is “not an emergency service”.
Since then, its website has been updated to clarify the 24-hour mental health line is for people “not at immediate risk”. Also, the concerned woman told us the pre-recorded message on the phone line has been updated and gives callers a queue position, which she said was a huge improvement that could “save lives”.
The Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust said recent changes to its phone line and website were carried out as part of continual improvement to services. It emphasised the importance of calling 999 in an emergency.
A spokesperson for the Trust said: “Our Trust is committed to continually looking for ways to improve our services and support the patients we serve. We are pleased to share that we have been making changes behind the scenes to our website over recent months and our Trust website went live with a refreshed look on Wednesday 26 November.
“We expect the changes will further improve the accessibility of our services and better support the patients we care for. In alignment with the wider NHS, we have always been clear that in an emergency when there is a high and imminent risk of harm that people must call 999 to seek help.
“The change to our phone lines went live on Friday 20 November and was, again, the result of work taking place by our teams to improve the services we provide.”