If you are homeless, you still have a right to register with a doctor – you can use a ‘care of’ address’, such as a friend or a day centre. You may only be offered a temporary three-month registration.
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An entry for the mindguide
If you are homeless, you still have a right to register with a doctor – you can use a ‘care of’ address’, such as a friend or a day centre. You may only be offered a temporary three-month registration.
Volunteers are essential to our work, enabling us to provide more life-changing services to people with mental health concerns. We welcome volunteers from all walks of life. If you need some extra support to get involved, just let us know and we will do our best to help.
Oxfordshire Mind’s Supported Housing Service offers accommodation with support in Oxford City and in West and South Oxfordshire. Staff are available Monday to Friday 9:00am to 5:00pm with an on-call service out of hours for emergencies.
Accommodation is provided in various settings including large and small shared houses and self-contained flats.
The service is aimed at Oxfordshire residents with mental health problems aged 18-65 who struggle to live independently. Residents are supported to move out to independent housing within 2 years.
Housing projects are available in:
- Oxford City
- Abingdon
- Cholsey/Wallingford
- Didcot
- Witney
Provides a range of supported accommodation options for people with mental health and housing needs in Oxfordshire.
The OMHP provides a housing and support programme for people with mental health problems in Oxfordshire, funded by the NHS and Oxfordshire County Council and delivered by four organisations: Oxfordshire Mind, Response, Elmore and Connection. They provide a range of housing and support options from accommodation with 24-hour staff cover to floating support for people living in their own homes. Services aim to help people to live in the community and to achieve recovery.
One may apply for these services using a single referral form which is available from any of the four organisations listed above.
Oxfordshire Mind and Response provide supported housing, and have a joint referral system. Enquiries or referrals should be directed to either of their Referrals Co-ordinators.
Oxfordshire Mind has Wellbeing Hubs in Abingdon, Banbury, Oxford and Witney, which are part of the Oxfordshire Mind Wellbeing Service, split into three localities. Wellbeing Hubs provide peer support groups, a programme of short courses and workshops designed to promote wellbeing and many creative activities and groups. Some Peer Support Groups also take place in community settings such as cafés.
The Witney Hub is one of our Wellbeing Hubs, located on Moorland Road, and offers Peer Support Groups and courses.
You might feel unsure of what to do, but there are lots of things that might help.
You could:
- Encourage them to talk about their feelings
- Encourage them to seek treatment and support
- Offer emotional support
- Offer practical support
- Help them think of ideas for self-help
- Help them to make a support plan
See the Signs
Here are some warning signs to look out for that could indicate someone is experiencing suicidal thoughts and feelings:
- Talking or complaining of feeling hopeless and that life is not worth living
- Talking about feeling trapped, such as saying they can not see any way out of their current situation
- Saying that friends and family would be better off without them.
- Talking or writing about death, dying or suicide
- A sudden lift in mood after a period of severe depression
- Looking into methods or the means to end their own life
- Putting all their affairs in order, such as sorting out possessions or making a will
- Saying that they can hear voices telling them to end their own life
If you are worried about someone and do not know how to tackle it, there are some things you can do to help them open up: Samaritans
How to start a difficult conversation
Tips for coping right now
- Try not to think about the future – just focus on getting through today
- Stay away from drugs and alcohol
- Get yourself to a safe place, like a friend’s house
- Be around other people
- Do something you usually enjoy, such as spending time with a pet
See more tips from Rethink here.
Worried about someone else?
If you are worried about someone, try to get them to talk to you. Ask open-ended questions like: “How do you feel about…?”
Do not worry about having the answers. Just listening to what someone has to say and taking it seriously can be more helpful.
See Samaritans’ tips on how to start a difficult conversation.
Rethink also has advice on how to support someone who is having suicidal thoughts.
Contains information from NHS Digital, licenced under the current version of the Open Government Licence.
The Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) is an award-winning charity dedicated to preventing male suicide, which is the single biggest killer of men under the age of 45 in the UK. In 2015, 75% of all UK suicides were male.
The CALM helpline is for men in the UK who are feeling down or have hit a wall for any reason, who need to talk or find information and support. Their line is open 5pm to midnight, 365 days a year. For more information about the helpline service and call costs visit their helpline page on the website. If you are in need of text based support, please use their webchat facility.
If you are currently in contact with mental health services in Oxfordshire, please refer to your Care Plan for information about what you should do if you are feeling more unwell or unsafe. Your Care Plan will contain helpful instructions about how to help yourself in a crisis and who to contact for further assistance.
Your local Adult Mental Health Team is available to be contacted 7 days a week from 7am until 9pm:
- Oxford City and North East Oxon: 01865 902200
- North West Oxon: 01865 902563
- South Oxon: 01865 904191
Overnight, from 9pm until 7am, the Night Team based at the Warneford Hospital can be contacted on 01865 901000 in the event of a mental health crisis that cannot wait for contact with your usual care team.
If you have been discharged from mental health services in the past 12 months and have concerns that your mental health is getting worse, you can contact the team you were discharged from for advice and self-referral. If you need help and advice overnight you can contact the Night Team, as above.
If you have never been under the care of one of our teams, or have not been for the past year, please make use of the information on the following website www.omhp.org.uk/in-an-emergency/ regarding self-help and local support services, or contact your GP, or call 111.
Contact your General Practitioner (GP) if you are not known to mental health services.
If you, a friend or relative are experiencing mental health problems and need emergency treatment, you should contact your General Practitioner (GP) in the first instance.
Your GP is your family doctor, the doctor you would normally go to see if you are ill or concerned about your health. He or she can usually deal with a mental health problem more quickly and fully than an Accident and Emergency (A&E) department.
To search for a GP in your area or to find the contact details of your practice please see the doctors section on www.nhs.uk or use the GP chapter in this guide.