Last Friday, the 27th of October, the Inverness Courier featured this petition on their front page along with some of my personal thoughts and reasons for starting the campaign. Many community groups and individuals have since been in touch asking how they can help us achieve our goal. This same day I met with Paula Shiels, a senior mental health nurse at NHS24, at the NHS24 headquarters in Cardonald. I spoke with her at length (over two hours) about the reasons behind the petition and the difficulty mental health patients face when reaching out for help; with over 3,000 signatures and 250 comments to back me. As a former CPN, she was very sympathetic to many of the comments left on the petition, particularly those who shared difficult experiences and shared my wish for a more accessible health service. She talked me through some of the work she and others have been doing within NHS24 to improve it and was very keen to communicate that our comments are being listened to and that there is recognition of a need for some big changes. However, at least for the moment, there is no plan to adopt the particular change that now almost 5,000 of us have requested. NHS24 is currently undergoing a stakeholder engagement process following a large funding package from the Scottish Government as part of the new Mental Health Strategy, and so it is not felt that now is the time to discuss this level of change. Once a better picture emerges of what the new mental health service landscape within NHS24 will look like, I plan to put pressure on again for a separate mental health option on the 111 line, regardless of how the service looks in a wider sense, for three reasons: 1. This will make it easier for someone in a crisis to get through to the correct support as it allows for more appropriate handling of the call and provides a clearer pathway for the person in distress 2. The inclusion of mental health on a standard list of medical emergencies sends a message to all callers that mental illness is taken seriously in Scotland; breaking stigma and creating parity with physical 3. The chance of the call taker being thrown-off, confused, or otherwise unable to deal with the call correctly is lessened as the caller is coming through on a dedicated line Therefore, the petition will remain live, and I hope to continue to gather support and make the case for this change. I will also keep in touch with NHS24 on the progress being made with the new funding. I want to say a big thank you to everyone who has signed and commented here, the press who have supported us, and all who have been in touch with me directly to share ideas and lend support. I’ll do my best to advocate any change possible to make things easier for those in crisis.