Patients could "fall through the cracks" as police cut back on mental health callouts

Police have laid out plans to drastically reduce the number of mental health callouts dealt with by officers, putting the onus back onto healthcare staff. Some forces in England and Wales currently attend 80 per cent of what a senior officer termed health and social care incidents, and this will be cut to between 20 and 30 per cent within the next two years.

Patients detained under the Mental Health Act currently wait with police officers for an average of 12 hours before receiving medical care, but under the plans this will be cut to a one-hour handover window.

Policing minister Chris Philp said it is up to each of the 43 police forces in England and Wales along with healthcare boards to work out when and how to put the changes into place. Britain’s largest force, the Metropolitan Police, has already said officers will stop responding to mental health callouts from September unless there is a threat to life.

But health experts are concerned that this will put additional pressure onto an already struggling NHS.

Dr Andrew Molodynski, the British Medical Association's mental health police lead, said: "The reality of the current mental health care system is that there is simply not enough resource or the workforce to adequately care for the needs of the population in the best possible way.

“No one disagrees that those in acute mental health crisis and who are highly vulnerable would benefit from seeing a mental health care professional as soon as possible rather than being in the custody of police. However, this often occurs precisely because resources are lacking for the right people, trained mental health professionals, to intervene quickly.

“Careful consideration must be given to the implementation of this policy to ensure that the needs of the patient and their safety are at the heart of any decisions made. Both the police and health services have a role in dealing with a person in mental health crisis who presents a risk to themselves, or others and any decision taken to reduce the time with police must be carefully balanced to ensure that the health service can provide care. With both public services chronically underfunded, robbing Peter to pay Paul is simply not a solution.

“The real risk would be that some patients could fall through the cracks and not get the care they need at a time when they are particularly vulnerable if they have neither police nor professional mental health support. The role out of any new plans must be adequately resourced, widely agreed, and carefully and gradually implemented to ensure this is not the case.”

The policing minister added that it will be up to individual police forces to work alongside local NHS trusts to find the best solution for their part of the country.

Hampshire's police and crime commissioner, Donna Jones, said: "I want to reassure the public the police will continue to attend incidents where there is a significant safety risk, or where a crime is being committed.

“What they will not do is spend hours on end waiting with patients in hospital or conducting welfare checks that should be carried out by a healthcare professional. This will not only save hours of police time, but it will also ensure those who need specialist help get the best care for their needs.

“Police officers can spend a significant amount of time dealing with health incidents which has an impact on the availability of resources.

“NHS partners have signed up to the new way of working and I look forward to seeing the impact of its effective implementation which will free up hours of police time to fight crime and keep our communities safe."