First 24/7 Neighbourhood Mental Health Hub Opens Tower Hamlets East London

NHS England has launched the first 24/7 neighbourhood mental health centre in East London as part of the government's 10 Year Health Plan to provide round-the-clock community mental health support. The Barnsley Street Neighbourhood Mental Health Centre in Tower Hamlets offers walk-in access for patients with serious mental illnesses like schizophrenia, alongside advice on employment, housing, and volunteering, staffed by a multidisciplinary team including psychiatrists, peer support workers, and voluntary sector staff. Five more such centres are planned to open across the UK, aiming to integrate crisis services, community mental health, and short-stay beds under one roof to improve accessibility and early intervention. In parallel, a new national mental health therapy hub called Towards opened in Leeds, offering in-person and online therapy with no waiting lists, supported by a training partnership with the University of Exeter to address the shortage and variable quality of therapists in the UK. This high street hub seeks to reduce stigma by being prominently located and focuses on training therapists with innate therapeutic qualities to improve care outcomes. Additionally, Sheffield has opened a neighbourhood mental health centre designed to bring care closer to home, initially serving adults registered with local GPs, further reflecting a national move toward community-based mental health services.