Practical guidance for carers and families dealing with adult mental health services, discharge planning and support in England.
Free starter resources · practical guidance · updates shared regularly
You're in the right place. This guide is written for families and carers who are trying to make sense of adult mental health services when the system feels unclear, rushed or hard to navigate.
It is likely you have already spent hours reading general advice and still felt left with the practical questions: what support can you ask for, what should happen at discharge, who is responsible for follow-up, and what is reasonable to expect from services.
The free resources often explain rights in principle, but not always how to use them in practice. This guide is designed to help you understand the system more clearly and take the next step with more confidence.
That is the gap this guide fills. Not theory alone, but practical guidance that helps families and carers prepare, ask questions, and respond at the points that matter most.
A mental health professional sharing practical guidance for carers and families navigating adult mental health services in England
If you are helping with daily care, transport, appointments, medication, monitoring or emotional support, it is worth asking for a carer's assessment and understanding what support may be available to you.
If someone has been detained under Section 3, it is reasonable to ask about Section 117 aftercare and what support should be provided after discharge, including who is responsible for arranging it.
Discharge planning should begin before the person leaves hospital or a crisis service. Ask for a written plan, a follow-up contact, and clear information about medication, appointments and support.
It helps to have a clear plan in place before a crisis escalates, including who to contact, what support should be available, and what to do if the situation changes quickly.
These are the first things many carers and families want when everything feels urgent: a clearer understanding of the system, what support to ask for, and what to think about before discharge.
A simple guide to where to begin when everything feels urgent.
Make sense of the language professionals use without explaining it.
A clear overview of the rights and support carers often miss.
Use this before discharge to make sure important questions are not missed.
No card required. No spam. Just practical guidance when it is most likely to help.
The fuller guide is designed to help you move from confusion to action. It brings together the practical questions, legal points, scripts and planning tools that are often missing from general advice, especially around support, discharge and asking for help.
Clarity on what support you can ask for, what is reasonable to expect from services, and how to navigate the system with more confidence.
What to ask before someone leaves hospital, what plans should be in place, and what gaps can leave families unprepared.
Support for your own wellbeing, including practical help and assessment routes that carers often need to know about.
How to spot the issues that matter most, understand what support should be available, and raise concerns calmly and effectively.
These aren't forms to print and post. They're tools built for the moment you're standing in the hospital corridor, sitting in the assessment, or trying to make a crisis call count. Fill in your phone. Tap copy. Send.
Uses the exact clinical language that triggers NHS action. Functional decline checklist. Care Act keywords. Fill in before you go in — or email or share it to the GP beforehand.
Stops you saying "I'm fine" when you're not. Prompts you to say what's actually true — so you don't walk away from your assessment with nothing.
Hand this to the Ward Sister before they discharge. Every unanswered question is a gap the hospital is legally responsible for filling.
A 3-minute brief for any paramedic, respite worker, or family member who steps in. What makes them calm. Red flags. Contacts. Medication. Updated in 10 minutes.
If your loved one was ever detained under Section 3, they may be entitled to free aftercare for as long as they need it. This tool audits what you're owed and generates the letter to claim it.
Not "take a holiday." Real self-care in 5, 15, or 60 minutes — for the life you actually have. No guilt. No big plans. Just what's possible today.
"We can't speak to you because of data protection." This tool generates the exact authorisation language for DWP, banks, utilities and the NHS — so they have to talk to you.
All 7 tools work in your browser. No app to download. No account needed. Nothing you enter is sent to us.
Much of this guidance is available in pieces elsewhere, but it is often scattered, difficult to find, and hard to apply in the middle of a crisis. That is the gap this work is trying to fill.
If any of these scenarios sound familiar, this resource is written for you.
You know the routine. You also know the system has stopped really trying. This resource gives you the tools to make it try again.
You went from "what's wrong" to "what now" overnight. The Field Manual gives you the map nobody handed you.
Both are critical moments. The bundle covers what your rights are at each, what good practice looks like, and how to challenge bad practice.
This guide helps you translate, document and escalate — so the threshold conversation actually goes somewhere.
The Self-Assessment Toolkit will help you claim what the law says you're owed — including breaks, support, and budget you may not know exists.
Many social workers, nurses, advocates and peer-support workers share this resource with the families on their caseload.
A calm, no-pressure starting point.
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