Police dealing with record level of phone calls on mental health

Police dealing with record level of phone calls on mental health Forces left to pick up pieces, with senior officer saying cuts and rising demand mean NHS is struggling to cope

Britain’s biggest police force received a phone call relating to mental health every five minutes last year, an escalating level of demand caused by NHS services struggling to cope.

The number of calls handled by the Metropolitan police in which someone was concerned about a person’s mental health hit a record 115,000 in the last year: on average 315 a day, or about 13 an hour.

A woman on crutches walked a mile to smash a shop window in Hereford, then called the police herself, believing that was the best way to get access to mental health services. Continue reading... The Guardian