Police in Devon & Cornwall dealing with 10% increase in mental health callouts over five years (21 July 2015)

Figures obtained by the BBC under a Freedom of Information request show that Devon and Cornwall Police have seen a 10% rise in mental health callouts from 4,891 in 2010 to 5,364 in 2014.

Last year, police officers in Devon and Cornwall attended nearly 15 incidents a day involving mental health conditions – and in November, a teenage girl with mental health issues was kept in a police cells in Devon for two days because of a shortage of acute care mental health beds in the area. NHS England apologised and described her care as “unacceptable”.

The figures obtained by the BBC involved cases flagged up as emergencies.

Nigel Rabbitts from Devon and Cornwall Police Federation – which represents frontline police officers – said:
“Only about 30% of officers' time is taken up by detecting and investigating crime.”

Mr Rabbitts added that officers were “frustrated that the NHS does not have the capacity” to deal with patients with mental health conditions.

“At the end of the day, we use police resources to mind those while we wait for the practitioners to turn up. That has to change,” he added.

Since 2011, police officer numbers in the force have fallen by around 400, Mr Rabbitts said – adding that the government had to invest to deal with the problem.

A spokesman for the Department of Health said:

“Police, mental health services, social workers and ambulance staff are working together to better support people experiencing a mental health crisis.

“In Devon and Cornwall, this has already resulted in a 15% reduction in people in mental health crisis going to police cells over the last year.

“We anticipate more improvements will happen over the next 12 months.”

Tom Pollard from mental health charity Mind said the increase in police callouts to deal with mental health patients was “concerning”.

He added that mental health services in the NHS were “stretched”.

“These calls have been recognised as mental health, so perhaps police are getting better at understanding it and directing people to the right support,” Mr Pollard said.
The mother of a mental health patient – who asked to remain anonymous –told the BBC that the police had been called “a handful of times” when her daughter had tried to kill herself. Her daughter has complex mental health issues and her mother said that officers had been “fantastic within their remit” – and had dealt with her daughter “very well”.

However, she questioned whether police officers were “equipped” to deal with mental health patients requiring acute care services.

“I really don't feel they are the entity to call for mental health issues,” she said.

“You need mental health-trained professionals.

“They could be dealing with an assault or a road traffic accident instead,” she added. ”Sometimes they can be quite abrupt.

“It's just the wrong choice – police should not be dealing with mental health.”

Duncan Lewis Mental Health Solicitors

Duncan Lewis is the UK’s largest provider of Legal Aid mental health services and our specialist mental health lawyers are available nationwide to attend appointments at police stations and hospitals at short notice.

In some cases, Duncan Lewis mental health solicitors may be able to advise the nearest relative or carer of a mental health patient on mental health law, including access to services and initiating treatment reviews, where appropriate.
For expert legal advice on mental health law – including detention under the Mental Health Act – call the Duncan Lewis Mental Health Solicitors Helpline on 0203 114 1124.