Today marked the official opening of Well House, a new community-based crisis house in Redbridge, offering local people experiencing mental health crisis or challenge, a short-term supported accommodation alternative to hospital admission.

Well House is delivered by NELFT and Look Ahead. Well House adopts a holistic, person-centred and trauma-informed approach to each individual’s needs that:

• Is co-delivered by support staff, clinical professionals and people with lived experience through an integrated service model, offering medication support, peer support-led interventions nursing, medical and psychological input and occupational therapy support. Support workers will be on site 24/7.
• Recognises and respects a person’s own understanding of their distress, their needs as well as their strengths, skills and aspirations.
• Considers, and addresses the wider social aspects that may have precipitated their mental health crisis (including secure housing, financial security, physical health, relationships), as well as providing support around these areas to help prevent future recurrence of crisis.
• Supports individuals to maintain personal activities of daily living, laundry, cooking and cleaning, financial management, education, training and employment, social opportunities, and accessing community resources to support discharge.

Local residents, users of service, peer support workers, clinicians and service managers attended the opening alongside NELFT and Look Ahead senior leaders.  

Paul Calaminus, NELFT CEO, said:  
  
"This new crisis house represents an important step forwards in support for those in mental health crisis that supports sustained wellbeing and recovery while reducing the need for hospitalisation.  Thank you to all our partners, and most of all our service users, who have worked so hard to develop this new service in Redbridge.''

Chris Hampson, Chief Executive at Look Ahead, said:

“Celebrating the opening of Well House today was a fantastic milestone both for us at Look Ahead and for our NHS colleagues at NELFT. The scheme provides yet another reminder of the importance of integrated social care, housing and health settings and the role they can play in keeping people out of hospital and living in the community.’’

Find out more about Well House - Redbridge Crisis House | NELFT NHS Foundation Trust