Harry Southern

14 March 2025 

Mr Gareth Jones 
HM Assistant Coroner 
Coroner Service: West Sussex, Brighton and Hove 
Parkside Chart Way 
Horsham, RH12 1XH 
Sent Via Email: 

Office of the Chair & Chief Executive 
Trust Headquarters 
Portland House 
44 Richmond Road 
Worthing 
West Sussex 
BN11 1HS 

Dear Mr Jones 

I write in response to your Regulation 28 report dated 23 January 2025 raising your concern 
about the availability and accessibility of 24hour support for those experiencing mental ill-
health.  I am grateful to you for raising your concern and sharing the  evidence you heard 
during the Inquest touching the tragic death of Harry Southern, particular the experience of 
his father.  

Firstly, I wish to offer my sincere condolences to Harry's family and friends.  I recognise that 
the Inquest into  Harry's death must have been extremely difficult  for Harry's family, and I 
hope that the Inquest, coupled with this response, will provide them with answers, as well 
as assurances as to the improvements made since October 2023. 

I understand that you are concerned about calls to the Trust's mental health helplines being 
unanswered  and  the  accessibility  and  adequacy  of  telephone  helplines  for  those  with 
hearing or other difficulties, and for young people whose preference is more likely to be the 
use of other communication means, such as social media and apps.   

I also understand that you heard evidence about the Sussex Mental Health Line  (SMHL) 
and  the  review  of  that  service,  due  to  the  difficulties  it  was  facing,  because  of  staffing 
shortages and, consequently, that it was, at times, not possible for all calls to be answered, 
resulting in callers receiving a comfort message and signposting to other support services.  
I am informed that you also heard evidence about the alternative Trust helpline, namely, the 
Mental Health Rapid Response Service and how Harry had successfully used the service in 
June 2023, yet, at the time of the Inquest, in November 2024, the functionality of that service 
was also under review to ensure effective and sustainable community care.   

Unfortunately,  there  remains  very  significant  demand,  in  Sussex,  from  callers  seeking 
mental health support, via  our helplines, and we know that there remains a gap between 
that very significant number of callers and the resource available to meet their needs.  For 
context, it should be noted that, when measured against other healthcare systems in the 
South-East, Sussex receives more than double the number of calls received by Hampshire 

Chair: 

                                                                                   Chief Executive: 

Head office: Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, Portland House,  
44 Richmond Road, Worthing, West Sussex, BN11 1HS 

A teaching trust of Brighton 
and Sussex Medical School 

 
 
 
 
                                       
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 and  the  Isle  of  Wight,  and  nearly  three  and  a  half  times  more  than  Surrey.    To  further 
contextualise,  in  the  period  from  April  to  December  2024,  Sussex  received  15,721  more 
calls than Surrey, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight put together.  

By way of assurance, many actions have already been taken and continue to be taken to 
improve the accessibility of helpline support in Sussex.  Following completion of the SMHL 
review you heard about during the Inquest, immediate actions have focused on recruitment, 
working  patterns  and  productivity.    Additionally,  the  gap  between  demand  and  financial 
resource  has  been  formally  raised  with  the  Trust's  commissioners,  NHS  Sussex,  and 
ongoing improvement of the SMHL is a key objective within the 2025/6 annual plan.    

In relation to alternative support, I am pleased to say that the Trust has now launched the 
New Neighbourhood Mental Health teams that you also heard about during the Inquest.  As 
they are multi-agency teams they  enable improved access to the breadth of services, be 
that NHS or voluntary sector services, to provide the best and most accessible support for 
those experiencing mental ill-health.  I know that the importance of working collaboratively 
was  heard  throughout  Harry's  Inquest  as  he  was  also  receiving  support  from  his  GP,  a 
private counsellor and had third sector input too.  The new Neighbourhood teams support a 
co-ordinated approach to ensure all system agency partners are aware of exactly what is 
available  across,  what  is  recognised  as  being  a  complex  mix  of  primary  and  secondary 
healthcare as well as vital voluntary sectors.   

I  absolutely  recognise,  as  you  say,  that  not  everyone  wants  or  is  able  to  use,  telephone 
contact and the Trust has been pro-actively working with system partners to develop new 
and consistent online mental health signposting information to make it easier for people to 
find help. The new online information, which categorises services based on how a person 
may be feeling, was launched in July 2024 and is promoted by a wide range of NHS, primary 
care, local authority and voluntary sector partners. Details can be found on the Trust's public 
website here: Getting help with your mental health :: Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation 
Trust  

An  additional  service  which  is  now  regularly  promoted  by  both  the  Trust  and  partner 
organisations,  including  campaigns  which  are  targeted  specifically  at  students,  is  'Text 
SUSSEX to 85258'.  It is a digital means for people to access help with their mental health. 
The service, which is delivered through the national text messaging service Shout, is free 
and is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.   

Over the last 18 months, the Staying Well service, which you heard some detail about during 
Harry's Inquest, has also been transformed into an open access service to provide support 
to  people  who  are  experiencing  a  self-defined  mental  health  crisis,  as  an  alternative  to 
attending A&E. It is an out-of-hours crisis support service which is co-delivered by voluntary, 
community  and  social  enterprise  (VCSE)  providers  and  the  Trust  has  worked  with  those 
VCSE partners to rebrand and promote Staying Well, and increase the hours it is available, 
resulting in a substantial increase in the number of people attending in person.   

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 All  the  aforementioned  collaborative,  partner  working  is  part  of  the  national  strategy  to 
improve  community  and  crisis  services  to  deliver  more  mental  health  crisis  care  in  the 
community, close to people’s homes, through new models of care and support which is key 
to the long-term sustainability of the NHS.  The aim being to improve accessibility of mental 
health  support,  not  by  focusing  on  improving  helplines  etc,  but  by  having  a  range  of 
accessible options which, collectively provide access to local support 24 hours a day, 7 days 
a week.   

I note that you copied your report to the Secretary of State for Health in recognition that your 
concern may be a national one.  I understand that he is not required to formally respond to 
your report, so I wanted to highlight a Regulation 28 response that his Department of Health 
& Social Care provided last week, to your Senior Coroner, Penelope Schofield,  as it also 
covered  the  national  plan  regarding  accessibility  of  community  crisis  care.  Baroness 
Marron's response confirmed the national plan to deliver the '24/7 Neighbourhood Mental 
Health Centre model' so that 'people with mental health needs can walk in or self-refer as 
can their loved ones and system partners'.   
Additionally, and specifically in relation to helplines, Baroness Marron confirmed: 

'Anyone in England experiencing a mental health crisis can now speak to a trained 
NHS professional at any time of the day through a new mental health option on NHS 
111.  Trained  NHS  staff  will  assess  patients over the  phone  and  guide  callers with 
next steps such organising face-to-face community support or facilitating access to 
alternatives services, such as crisis cafés or safe havens which provide a place for 
people to stay as an alternative to A&E or a hospital admission. The new integrated 
service can give patients of all ages, including children, the chance to be listened to 
by a trained member of staff who can help direct them to the right place. These crisis 
lines currently take around 200,000 calls a month.' 

Thank  you  for  raising  this  important  concern.    I  hope  that  the  contents  of  this  response 
provide you and Harry's family with assurance that local action has been, and continues to 
be, taken to improve access to support and that there are ongoing national plans to continue 
to improve both availability and accessibility of care for those experiencing mental ill-health.  
However, if I can be of any further assistance to you, please do not hesitate to contact me. 

Yours sincerely  

Chief Executive