1 in 5 police call outs linked to mental health

Fri, 08 Jul 2016

Five mentally ill people had to be held in police cells over the last year because of a shortage of appropriate hospital facilities at the time.

That's according to the Chief Constable who says "nothing about this is right" - he's revealed that 20 per cent of incidents his officers deal with are linked to mental health.

The Department of Health and Social Care has compiled a new Mental Health Strategy - something which Gary Roberts says offers "opportunities" to reduce the demands on the force.

He says he's now "genuinely hopeful" that progress can be made by using a joined-up approach: