An ex-head of the police inspectorate has mentioned the Met Police’s plan to cease attending emergency psychological well being incidents is “potentially alarming”.

From September, officers will solely attend psychological well being 999 calls the place there’s an “immediate threat to life”.

Zoe Billingham, who was beforehand Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue, mentioned the proposals might create a “vacuum”.

Mental well being charity Mind has additionally expressed issues over the plan.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley wrote to well being and social care providers in Greater London to tell them of the plan final week, the Guardian reported.

The Met argues the transfer will unlock officer sources after a major rise within the variety of psychological well being incidents being handled by its officers previously 5 years.

Some police chiefs imagine that is all the way down to the service more and more being seen as the primary resort for folks in a disaster, in addition to a scarcity of capability within the NHS and social providers to cope with rising psychological well being calls for.

As first reported by the Guardian, the Met says it’s seeking to “redress the imbalance of responsibility”, which frequently sees law enforcement officials “left delivering health responsibilities”.

But Ms Billingham, who’s now chair of the Norfolk and Suffolk NHS psychological well being belief after 12 years as Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue, warned psychological well being providers are “creaking” and “in some places are so subdued with demand they are not able to meet the requirements of people who need it most”.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, she warned there’s “simply no other agency to call” aside from the police for folks in disaster, including: “There isn’t another agency to step in and fill the vacuum.”

She expressed doubts in regards to the timeframe set by the Met for the change, including that she could be “very surprised” if psychological well being trusts throughout London are in a position to get additional round the clock psychological well being amenities up and working by 31 August.

Ken Marsh, chairman of the Met Police Federation – which characterize officers as much as the rank of inspector – broadly welcomed the announcement.

He mentioned law enforcement officials might be required to attend in hospital for as much as 12 hours with folks affected by psychological well being issues or dementia.

However, he mentioned officers will nonetheless attend “most” calls as a result of officers shall be involved in regards to the penalties of not responding.

“At the end of the day, who makes the decision that you can’t go to something and if God forbid this ended up in a coroner’s court, what does my officer then say?

‘Well the commissioner told me not to go’ – and that just wouldn’t stand up because you are solely responsible for what you’re dealing with out on the streets.”

Ms Billingham agreed a complete withdrawal is unlikely in apply, however warned it might be “really, really dangerous” if the Met took that method.

Sarah Hughes, chief govt of Mind, has warned there’s not sufficient capability in different public providers to interchange the work law enforcement officials at the moment do.

She informed Today: “I’m not persuaded we’ve got enough in the system to tolerate a shift to this new approach.

“We’ve acquired an enormous approach to go till the system is working collectively on behalf of very distressed people.”

She mentioned the Met and NHS “urgently want to sit down down collectively and work out a plan in response to those main issues”.

The charity has also warned that mental health services have been “chronically underfunded for many years”, and called for any changes to be made “rigorously and collectively in order that no-one is left with out assist”.

The College of Policing defines a mental health incident as “any police incident thought to narrate to somebody’s psychological well being the place their vulnerability is on the centre of the incident”. And police officers are estimated to spend 20-40% of their time dealing with such incidents.

The Met’s new plan has already been adopted by Humberside Police, who introduced the Right Care, Right Person (RCRP) scheme in 2020 to ensure mental health calls are dealt with by mental health professionals.

A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said the RCRP programme was “vastly profitable in bettering outcomes, decreasing demand on all providers, and most significantly making certain that the fitting care is being delivered by the fitting particular person.”

“Police are compassionate and extremely expert however they don’t seem to be educated to ship psychological well being care and spend a mean of 10 hours with a affected person when they’re sectioned underneath the Mental Health Act.

“In London alone between 500-600 times a month, officers are waiting for this length of time to hand over patients, and it cannot continue,” they added.

One police officer, talking on situation of anonymity, informed BBC News: “Front-line cops try not to use the powers we have because it takes us off the streets when we should be answering 999 calls.”

The officer defined that somebody might be detained underneath Section 136 of the Mental Health Act, which provides law enforcement officials the powers to “remove someone to a place of safety”.

But points come up as a result of “when no one is free to assess them at hospital, we cannot just leave them”.

The authorities announced a £150m capital investment in January to enhance the locations and areas throughout the NHS for folks experiencing – or liable to experiencing – a psychological well being disaster.

It mentioned the funding will enable for the procurement of as much as 90 new psychological well being ambulances, which is able to take specialist employees on to sufferers to ship assist on scene or switch them to essentially the most acceptable place for care.

If you might be affected by any of the problems on this article you’ll find particulars of organisations that may assist by way of the BBC Action Line.