"Mental health crisis team"

I rang my crisis team last night, not about myself for once but for someone I thought was at risk in south Yorkshire and I had been unable to find phone numbers for her local team. The lady I spoke to whose name I have forgotten was extremely helpful and rang me back within five minutes with a phone number to ring. I consequently rang and was passed to another team who were so abrupt and unhelpful and did not even listen to what I was saying and the whole scenario ended up with me ringing south Yorkshire Police which I was trying to avoid.

Back to the Nottinghamshire mental health crisis team. The lady I spoke to was wonderful, grasped the gist of the issue and went above and beyond the call of duty to help me despite the fact it was not myself in crisis and was indeed out of area. She will know who she is and I hope she accepts my thanks and respect.

I have had to ring the crisis team on a couple of occasions. I'm a very high functioning bipolar sufferer and a couple of times I've had issues with sleep. The last time I rang I was on night fifteen with no sleep. I was not patronised with the eat a banana, have a bath, read a book routine, the person I spoke to immediately grasped that I was beyond that. I was treated as a person and not given the textbook advice.

After speaking to two other teams in Yorkshire who were quick to pass the problem, first to another team and then to the police I have the utmost respect for the men and women who man our crisis line and who in my experience have been beyond helpful. It is obvious they care. Whether it be talking to someone who has had no sleep for two weeks and arranging or advising on an emergency appointment the following morning or accepting the challenge of a crisis in another area.

Not once have I ever felt I'm a nuisance, not once have I ever felt rushed to clear the line.

I knew our crisis team were Good but after speaking to two others, I now realise that they are exceptional.

The lady I spoke to yesterday deserves special thanks for going above and beyond and she will recognise who she is. Please all of you who man our crisis line, accept my thanks and maybe you ought to be training the rest of the country on how to do it properly.