A ROUND-the-clock crisis response service is now in place and children are at the centre of all discussions, a mental health trust has insisted.

Following the tragic death of seven-year-old George Acres, bosses at the trust have promised to act on all recommendations made in a serious case review.

Christina Acres killed her son after relapsing with her psychotic illness.

The review said that the Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust should revise its assessment model to require a thorough risk assessment of how a parent’s mental condition impacts children.

It was also told to ensure if any patient is seen out of hours that needs medical treatment, a consultation with an on-call psychiatrist is requested, as there were “missed opportunities” during the mum’s relapse.

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A spokesman for the trust said: “Our deepest sympathies are with all the families impacted by this heartbreaking case.

“We are acting on all the recommendations relating to the trust’s involvement and have enhanced our practices to ensure there’s a greater focus on the risk to children and they are at the centre of healthcare professionals’ discussions.

“Further whole-family approach training is also underway and where children are considered at risk, social care are alerted straight away.”

The trust said in February 2019 it introduced a traffic light system to assess patient risk, with a red rating applied for cases that face a risk of relapse, and are closely monitored.

The trust now has a crisis response and home treatment service running 24/7.

It offers urgent and specialist support to adults experiencing a mental health crisis.

A patient can be referred or contact the team directly and a response guaranteed within four hours.

The trust added that there is a “well-established” practice of informing GPs of patient assessments and, in south east Essex, mental health nurses are based across primary care to improve communication and ensure GPs are kept fully informed.