What happened on 26th July 2023 - With your comments in the Web
On Wednesday, the BBC reported that police in England will attend fewer mental health calls . The government says the policy could save a million hours of police time every year. Senior officers say forces have "lost their way" by dealing with less serious mental health problems. But mental health charities say they are "deeply worried" at what could be a "dangerous" change. At the moment, some police forces in England and Wales attend 80% of so-called health and social care incidents. It is expected this will be reduced to between 20 and 30% within the next two years, under the plans. The government says it is providing an extra £1bn a year, including £150m for facilities to replace police officers, including: specialist mental health ambulances extra capacity for treating patients "crisis cafes", where people struggling to cope can drop in for help And 999-call handlers are being trained to assess a request for officers to attend and decide wh...