So, unless life and limb are at risk, by the end of August the Metropolitan Police will no longer respond to 999 calls about people in mental health crisis.
I was a new councillor when I was asked to help support the adult sons of two local families. One was diagnosed with schizophrenia and struggling with heavy medication and alcohol. The other’s mother was convinced that her lad’s erratic behaviour indicated something seriously wrong.
Both families needed urgent help and reassurance.
After going round the grotesque pass-the-parcel circuit of primary care, mental health services and adult social care, they were at their wits’ end. Each agency found a reason to signpost to another until the circle was complete. Eventually, it was the compassionate intervention of the Met's Safer Neighbourhood Teams that delivered the care needed.
This casework occurred before the full impact of austerity and with the irony that Norman Lamb MP (possibly the best health secretary we never had) had just launched the concept of parity of esteem for people with mental health challenges.
Perhaps channelling Norman, a senior police officer commented that if you break your leg and dial 999, you don’t expect a police car to turn up!
The number of health visitors (who support people with a wide range of issues, including mental health) has fallen by 40% since 2015. This is against a backdrop of Covid, increasing poverty and associated mental illness.
Sarah Hughes, CEO of mental health charity MIND, acknowledged the chronic underfunding, saying: “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."
So, what should happen?
Our elected representatives must lobby the Greater London Authority’s health committee and London councillors to urgently convene a pan-London Mental Health Scrutiny Conference to address this mental healthcare crisis. Inviting evidence from service users, advocacy groups, primary care, providers and the Met, they must come up with a series of urgent recommendations that at least provide a patch to ensure continuing provision.
Meanwhile, we should all pray that this government pulls its head out of the sand and offers immediate funding and a long-term reform of this forgotten corner of the NHS.
If you need urgent mental health help, visit https: nhs.uk/nhs-services/mental-health-services/where-to-get-urgent-help-for-mental-health/
- David Winskill is a Crouch End resident and local campaigner.
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