Mr Kevin Stewart MSP, Minister for Mental Wellbeing & Social Care had a virtual visit to the National Distress Brief Intervention Programme Board on Thursday 30th September 2021.
Mr Stewart was able to meet and reflect with the colleagues and partners who have been working together to incrementally build and grow connected compassionate support across Scotland, which has seen over 20,000 people receive support through the DBI programme.
During the visit Mr Stewart heard direct from Health and Social Care, NHS24, Police Scotland and Scottish Ambulance Service colleagues about how DBI is empowering front-line staff to deliver connected compassionate support and enabling more and more people to receive valuable person centred support quickly in the 24hrs that follow and up to 14 days.
Minister for Mental Wellbeing & Social Care Kevin Stewart said:
“I was pleased to meet members of the Programme Board and to hear from representatives of Police Scotland, the Scottish Ambulance Service and NHS24 about their experience of providing compassionate support to people experiencing emotional distress.
“I believe this innovative and world-leading intervention provides vital support to people who need it the most, when they need it the most. The milestone of 20,000 referrals to the programme since its launch in 2017 is a remarkable achievement; this figure includes almost 5,000 referrals via the NHS24 pathway that we launched in 2020 as part of our wider response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This programme is a crucial part of the wide range of actions we are taking to improve public mental health and wellbeing. We have committed to introducing the programme to all NHS Board areas by 2024. I look forward to working with our partners as we move towards that goal.”
