People across Cheshire and Merseyside to get faster mental health support closer to home with new NHS centres
Thursday, 6 August 2026
People experiencing mental health problems across Cheshire and Merseyside will get faster, more joined-up care closer to home, as the government announced new mental health facilities for the region as part of a nationwide rollout of up to 159 sites across England.
NHS teams across the country are working towards delivering new mental health centres, offering walk-in support without a referral and without a months-long wait, and new mental health emergency departments, giving people in crisis specialist care in a place designed for them.
Backed by £343 million, the rollout is the biggest redesign of mental health services in a generation.
In Cheshire and Merseyside, plans are underway for five mental health neighbourhood centres and three mental health emergency department schemes. Final locations are subject to designs, procurement, and business case approvals.
Demand for mental health services has risen sharply, particularly among children and young people, with around one in five people experiencing a common mental health condition each year. Too often, people only receive support once they reach crisis point, leaving families without the help they need and placing greater pressure on NHS services.
The new centres will make it far easier for people to get the right help the first time they ask for it, by bringing mental health and specialist teams together under one roof – working alongside GPs, councils, the voluntary sector and families, with direct links into housing and employment support.
The first sites open from autumn this year, with further facilities following from March 2027.
Dr Michael Gregory, Regional Medical Director for NHS England in the North West, said:
“Too many people in the North West are only getting mental health support when they reach crisis point, after struggling for too long to get the help they need.
“These new community mental health centres will help people across Cheshire & Merseyside, Greater Manchester, and Lancashire & South Cumbria get support earlier and closer to home, making it easier to get the right care before problems escalate.
“And when someone does need urgent help, the new mental health emergency department schemes will help make sure they are seen quickly by specialist teams in the right setting.
“This is an important step towards preventing more people from reaching crisis, cutting waits for care and building an NHS that is fit for the future.”
Some of the community hubs will be newly built facilities, while others will be in libraries, banks and other community or high street locations to move care closer to where people live, improving access.
They will all be in the heart of the neighbourhoods they serve and designed as welcoming settings with a non-clinical appearance.
Alongside this, the new mental health emergency departments will provide fast, same-day specialist support for people experiencing a crisis who are medically fit and do not need treatment in A&E.
Working closely with ambulance and police services, they will provide a calm, therapeutic environment where people can be assessed quickly and connected to the right ongoing care, whether that’s inpatient treatment, support at home or community services. The national rollout will more than double the number of dedicated emergency departments in England, taking the total to 82.
This is the first phase of a wider rollout set out in the 10 Year Health Plan, backed by £343 million in mental health facilities.
The announcement supports the government’s mission to shift care from crisis to prevention, helping people get support earlier and closer to home. It forms part of the forthcoming Mental Health Strategy, which will look beyond the NHS to the role of schools, employers, local government and the voluntary sector in supporting good mental health.
The Mental Health Strategy will be informed by the upcoming recommendations from Professor Peter Fonagy’s independent review into prevalence and support for mental health conditions, ADHD and Autism.
By intervening earlier, the government aims to help more children stay in education, more adults remain in or return to work, and reduce the number of people reaching crisis point, helping build a healthier and more resilient Britain.