Mental Health Act - emergency and short-term powers: guide

3 Who can help in an emergency?

There are different people who might be able to help if you, or someone you know, is unwell and needs care and treatment for a mental disorder as a matter of urgency. The person's General Practitioner ( GP), or other people who might be involved in their care, such as a community psychiatric nurse ( CPN) or social worker, might be able to help. There might be out-of-hours crisis support in your area - your local authority social work service should be able to tell you what's available.

In more urgent cases, for example, where someone has self-harmed or is at serious risk of self-harming, it might be more appropriate to contact the emergency services, i.e. police or ambulance.