“Rule out cells as designated place of safety for the mentally ill”

THE health service and not the police must take responsibility for members of the public suffering with mental health problems, the Police Federation of England and Wales has said.

The Federation has called on ministers to rule out police cells as a designated place of safety for the mentally ill, whatever the circumstances.

MPs on the Home Affairs Select Committee published a report stating that “too many NHS clinical commissioning groups are failing in their duty to provide enough health-based places of safety that are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and are adequately staffed”.

They recommended that section 136 of the Mental Health Act 1983 should be altered so that police cells are no longer designated as places of safety.

However, the Committee backed legislative proposals by the Home Office and Department of Health that adults who are in mental health crisis can go to police cells for a maximum of 24 hours in “exceptional circumstances”.

Doug Campbell, mental health lead for the Police Federation of England and Wales, welcomed the report, but warned that this recommendation meant some mentally ill adults would still end up in police cells.

“Training of police officers is important so they can do their best to deal with people suffering from mental health problems but just as you would not expect a doctor to run a complex police investigation, police officers can never be an adequate replacement for medical staff,” he said. “And police cells are not an adequate replacement for medical facilities.”

Mr Campbell added that the government and health service should put more effort into protecting patients, removing the pressure on an “already overstretched” police service and dealing with the failings of mental health provisions.

“A mental health crisis is a medical emergency, whether a person is 17, 18, 30 or 65 and the health agencies must give them appropriate treatment rather than handing their care over to the police service,” he said.