The police are being called to deal with soaring numbers of incidents involving people suffering from mental health crises, sparking fresh concern about lack of NHS help for the mentally ill.
The number of such 999 callouts in England has risen by 41% over the past five years, with some police forces seeing more than a twofold jump since 2015, new figures reveal. Mental health experts say the increase highlights the erosion over recent years of services for people with conditions such as depression and schizophrenia who end up in crisis.
Under the Mental Health Act, the police are called out to help deal with a situation because someone having a mental health emergency may pose a risk to themselves or others.
Officers usually take the person to hospital for treatment and some end up being sectioned under the legislation.
“Use of the Mental Health Act has grown year on year for a decade as support to prevent crises has reduced due to funding reductions in local services,” said…
— to www.theguardian.com
