If they refuse help, tell the call handler. You do not need their agreement to seek urgent advice about a serious concern. That does not let you force them into an assessment: professionals decide what can lawfully happen next. Consent and refusing help.
Do this now
- For immediate danger, call 999 and describe the emergency. If urgent help is needed without immediate danger, use the urgent help for their UK nation.
- Describe what is happening in one sentence, including any immediate risk.
- Before you hang up, ask: "What happens now, and is there a reference number I should keep?"[1]
If you are not with them
Call 999 if life is at risk or someone cannot be kept safe. Say you are calling from elsewhere. Give the person’s location, including their address, postcode, building or room if known, and a callback number. Say what you know and what you do not know. Do not delay calling while you travel or try to gather every detail.
If you are in contact, ask where they are and follow the call handler’s instructions. A trusted person nearby may be able to help, but do not ask them to enter an unsafe situation or physically restrain someone.
For urgent concerns without immediate danger, use the urgent-help route for the UK nation where the person is. Explain both your location and theirs so the service can advise on the right local route. NHS 111 can take calls about someone else; being with them helps the assessment, but do not wait to travel before asking for advice.
“I’m calling about someone at [their location]. I am elsewhere. They told me [exact words] and I am worried because [specific risk]. Their number is [number]. What should I do now?”
If they are a student away at university · If you cannot find them.
Words you can use
The 999 operator will ask which emergency service you need. For a medical emergency, ask for an ambulance. If you are unsure, say so and explain what is happening; do not delay the call while trying to work it out.[2]
Describe what you know. If you are unsure how serious the risk is, say so and ask for advice. Use 999 if someone is in immediate danger.
If you cannot safely keep supporting them at home, use the script for explaining what you can no longer provide.
Tell the service what you can and cannot do, including if you cannot stay with them. Ask for this to be included in the plan. If help cannot wait, use the urgent help for their UK nation.[3]
What might happen after you call?
When you call NHS 111 and select the mental-health option in England, staff ask about what is happening and help decide what support is needed. You can explain that you are calling about someone else.
Depending on their needs and local services, staff may give advice, connect you with a crisis service, arrange face-to-face community support or suggest a crisis café or safe haven. They may recommend A&E or arrange emergency help when needed.
Calling does not automatically mean an ambulance, police attendance or hospital admission. The response depends on the assessment and any immediate danger. Staff may need to involve emergency services; nobody can promise in advance that this will not happen.
Before ending the call, ask what has been arranged, who will contact whom, when to expect it and what to do if things worsen or nobody calls. Say if you cannot safely stay with the person.
Other UK nations have their own arrangements. Use the contact route for where the person is and ask the service to explain the next step. Call 999 if there is immediate danger.[4]
Share the details you know
- What's happening now: in a sentence.
- The risk: have they hurt themselves, taken anything, said a plan?
- Diagnosis and medication: if you know it. If not, that's fine.
- The address: the way in, the floor, whether the door's locked.
- Whether they know you've called, and whether they'll be frightened or hostile when help arrives.
When to use 999 or 111
999: where there is a serious risk to life. NHS 111, mental-health option, in England: urgent mental-health help that is not an immediate emergency. Both can take a call because you are worried about someone else. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland use different urgent mental-health arrangements, listed on the urgent-help page.
When help arrives
Tell them what you told the call handler. If the person is paranoid, warn the crew: "They think people are after them, so uniforms may frighten them." Do not promise that nobody will take them anywhere, because you may not be able to keep that promise.
And you?
You may feel shaken after making the call. Sit down, contact someone you trust and use Support for you if you need it.
Sources and how this guide was written
Making the call
NHS urgent mental-health guidance explains the 999 and NHS 111 routes and confirms that you can call about someone else.The first question when you call 999
London Ambulance Service explains the operator’s first question (checked 2 October 2026).Explaining what you can and cannot do
Mind: supporting someone while recognising your own limits.What might happen after calling
NHS England: mental-health support through 111 describes community support and alternatives to hospital. NHS England: about NHS 111 explains advice, referrals and ambulance dispatch when required. These are possible responses, not a guarantee of a local service or outcome. Checked 3 October 2026.
Last full source check: 27 August 2026. The call-handling additions above were checked separately on 2 and 3 October 2026.
Consent and seeking advice wording checked: 7 October 2026. Sources and explanation.
Later checks: Supporter-limit wording checked: 30 September 2026. Help-route wording checked: 1 October 2026. The 111 example and supporter-limit wording rechecked: 8 October 2026.
Distance-calling advice checked 8 October 2026 against NHS 111’s call guidance and London Ambulance Service’s explanation of a 999 call. Example words are ours.
Independent information, not a medical or crisis service. This guidance has not been clinically reviewed. How we use sources.
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