A MENTAL health service aimed at helping people who visit their GP with worries about their mental wellbeing could be axed.

York has a higher rate of suicide and of people being admitted to hospital for self-harm than the national average.

And some of the most vulnerable residents - including those living in deprivation, homeless people and patients struggling with alcohol problems - are most likely to be hit by the closure of the mental health service, according to York Central MP Rachael Maskell.

She added that students and farmers - groups with higher rates of suicide risk - could also be failed if the Primary Care Mental Health Teams are shut down.

The service is available through a number of York GP surgeries.

It offers treatment for people suffering from mental illnesses that can be treated in the community, rather than hospital. This could include cognitive behavioural therapy and practical support to help them recover.

It was launched less than a year ago.

Vale of York CCG (Clinical Commissioning Group) has released a statement saying: “In January 2019 the CCG invested non recurrent funds into the Primary Care Mental Health Team to enable local GP practices to offer assessments and a range of therapies that help people with mental health conditions.

“The CCG is disappointed to learn that staff employed within the service have received notice.

“In recognising that patients value and appreciate this service, the CCG is currently looking at opportunities to draw down on its other funding areas to help release money so practices can continue to provide services to some of the most vulnerable people in its community.”

York Central MP Rachael Maskell said 6,000 people have used the service since it was launched and that it has a team of nine people and costs about £400,000 a year to run.

She said she will work with the CCG to look at how the service could be saved, adding: “If it closed, all those patients who have been using the service would be let down and failed again – and actually that’s outrageous.

“We know we are failing to deliver good community mental health services.

“Most of the patients who use the service will be below the threshold for moderate to severe treatment.

“This is exactly the service we need in York – it’s easy to access, it’s delivered in the community, it is therapeutic and life-changing."

“The friends and family feedback for the service shows that incredible support and trust has been built up.

“This was really reaching into the community – up to 6,000 people used the service in a year – with a staff of just nine.

“It is one of the best value services for the cost, which is about £400,000 a year – that isn’t an expensive service.

“Mental health has not been well served and my message to the CCG is that they have to find the money for this service.

“The CCG and other partners are signed up to the Trieste model [to treat some mental health problems in the community rather than hospital]. But if this service is removed it will mean more people will end up in expensive parts of the service, like acute care.”

She added that the CCG has said it wants to focus on treating mental health problems in the community, rather than hospital, and the Primary Care Mental Health Teams are a step towards this goal.

A spokesman for the CCG said it was working in a “financially challenged health system”.

But added that the organisation was fully committed to looking for ways to continue the service until the end of March 2020. A further announcement about the service will be made in the week beginning October 7.