Met Police to stop attending mental health calls
The Met Police's plan to stop attending emergency mental health incidents is "potentially alarming", a former inspector of constabulary has said.
As first reported by the Guardian, the Met says it is looking to "redress the imbalance of responsibility", which often sees police officers "left delivering health responsibilities". He said police officers can be required to wait in hospital for up to 12 hours with people suffering from mental health problems or dementia.
Ms Billingham agreed a total withdrawal is unlikely in practice, but warned it would be "really, really dangerous" if the Met took that approach. She said the Met and NHS "urgently need to sit down together and work out a plan in response to these major concerns". "Police are compassionate and highly skilled but they are not trained to deliver mental health care and spend an average of 10 hours with a patient when they are sectioned under the Mental Health Act.
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