The Homeless Assessment and Support Team (HAST) provides access to healthcare and support services for homeless people in Sheffield who have mental health problems.
We aim to provide an assessment service and, where appropriate, to offer treatment to enable our service users to access and engage with mainstream mental health services.
We know how important a secure home is to positive mental health, so our team works closely with Housing Solutions and other interim accommodation providers in the city to help service users establish stable tenancies.
Most of the contacts we have with service users take place in the community, although there are facilities for service users to be seen in our clinic.
The team consists of a Community Mental Health Nurse, a Social Worker and another Social Worker partly funded by the Department of Health’s Rough Sleepers Initiative. We also receive support from a Consultant Psychiatrist and part-time administrative support.
We are passionate about working alongside other services to improve the outcomes of brain injury survivors. Together with the Sheffield Community Brain Injury Rehabilitation Team (SCBIRT), we engage with regular consultancy panel meetings, which provide brain injury education and give us an avenue to discuss clients with multiple and complex needs, including brain injury. This initiative was recently evaluated by the Head Injury and Homelessness Research Team (HIHRG) which is a brain injury survivor led organisation.
You can read the evaluation report here.
How is the service accessed?
We accept referrals for any adult aged 18 or over who is homeless and is experiencing mental health problems.
Referrals can come from health and social care professionals working in Sheffield or you can refer yourself or a loved one to the service.
To make a referral just give us a call on 0114 2262520.
Anyone aged 16 to 17 who is currently homeless and suspected to have early onset psychosis can be referred to the service for assessment or treatment by CAMHS.
You can take a look at the service eligibility and selection criteria by clicking here.
