MENTAL health units are still still seen by some people as gated compounds where “inmates” are locked up.

However, the days when people with mental health issues were shut away from society are long gone.

The current trend, supported by changes in the law and the closure of the vast institutions of the past, is for people to live in the community whenever possible, with a full range of support.

The Lakes unit, in the grounds of Colchester General Hospital, provides treatment for people with differing mental health problems. Some stay there, others are outpatients.

Jackie Liveras, regional director of the North Essex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, stressed it aimed only to hospitalise patients as a last resort.

The fundamental ethos of the service is simple: Being diagnosed with a mental illness does not mean the end of someone’s life as they know it.

Nowadays, no one is “written off” because of their illness.

Ms Liveras explained: “We have to give people hope. People do get better; people do go home and return to jobs and hold down relationships. They do all the things which are important to us.

“We try to help people recover so they can go back to their lives. There are those very sad occasions where things do go wrong. That’s what we have to work on, to prevent these things happening.”

Government guidelines say if someone can be treated at home, they should stay out of hospital.

The Lakes offers therapy sessions and courses during the day for patients who then go home to sleep. Outreach visits and regular phone calls form part of an overall treatment plan put in place by doctors.

Its inpatients are usually those who have been sectioned under the Mental Health Act, though patients sometimes voluntarily check themselves in, after comprehensive assessments by psychiatrists and doctors.

At the Lakes, they have access to therapists, psychiatrists, social workers, counselling – even a gym – to help them on the road to recovery.

Ms Liveras believes the most important department under her remit is the one which often receives the most complaints – the Crisis Line.

The line has a team of senior clinicians on hand to answer phone calls from people in crisis.

Its vital, often difficult, role is to assess the mental health of each caller, calm them down and try and make sure the right action is taken to keep them safe.

Ms Liveras said: “I am very proud of this team. They are the most senior clinicians on my team.”

Callers frequently threaten to harm themselves, or others, and easily appear to take offence at the words or deeds of clinicians.

When this happens, a mental health worker needs to visit the person urgently. For this, the unit has a very close relationship with local police.

Ms Liveras explained: “If you have an assessment of someone and you know they may have a weapon, a history of violence or of harming someone, then the police will go round with us. That is quite rare, though.

“The police are quite good at this, and respond very well.”

The force is also called upon when a patient “goes missing” from the unit – a phrase Ms Liveras prefers to “escape”.

She insisted: “This is not a secure unit, in the sense of a prison.

“This is, if you like, an open facility, although there are locks on the doors. Sometimes, people do leave here and go on to do themselves harm. Generally, what happens is people are sent out on leave when the experts say they are well enough. Sadly, sometimes they choose not to return.

“When this happens, all the checks are done and we try to contact people. If we can’t contact them, we call the police immediately.

“We feel people are ready to leave, but sometimes things happen to trigger an episode.”

In such cases, she admits there can be tragic consequences. She said: “When it does occur, it is terrible. Absolutely tragic and devastating. But it doesn’t happen often.” Despite the daily challenges and the understandable distress of their families when loved ones are ill, Ms Liveras believes her team truly makes a difference.

However, she is far from complacent and remains willing to accept sometimes things go wrong and changes need to be made.

She said: “I’m very interested in when things do go wrong, and what can we learn from it.

“When families experience problems, they do need to talk to us and see if there are things we need to learn from.

“The only way we know whether we are getting it right is from what service users tell us.”

The trust is holding a service users’ and carers’ forum in June, at which 100 people’s experiences and views on how they can get more involved in the services will be sought.

Ms Liveras added: “At the end of the day, we are here for those people who need us, when they need us. Whenever that might be.”