Mind responds to news that the Metropolitan police will stop attending emergency calls related to mental health incidents unless there is a immediate threat to life

Reacting to the news that the Metropolitan police will stop attending emergency calls related to mental health incidents unless there is a immediate threat to life, Sarah Hughes, CEO of Mind, said:

“People with mental health problems should be at the heart of any change to the support they receive in a crisis.

“It is right to say that when people are in a mental health crisis, they are often at their most vulnerable, so really need the right support.  It is also right to say that mental health is core police business, for example, only the police can publicly section people in mental health crisis.

“The police can only properly help people with the right support from the whole system. The NHS needs sufficient resourcing so that people in crisis are treated quickly and in a therapeutic environment.

“Mental health services have been chronically underfunded for decades and much more needs to be done to bring services to the standard where everybody can get the support they need from the NHS.

“Any changes to supporting people in a mental health crisis need to be thought through carefully and collectively so that no one is left without support. New plans need to be rolled out with enough time to make sure strong partnerships are built at a local level so that people with mental health problems don’t pay the price for this kind of change.”