No new cash for health services when they take over mental health callouts
The government says it is providing £150m – but the money was announced in 2021, and none will go towards new staff
Health services will not get any new funding when they take over responsibility for mental health emergencies from police as soon as next month, NHS England has confirmed to openDemocracy.
The government announced on Wednesday that police forces across England would no longer attend emergencies related to mental health unless there was a risk to life, or a crime being committed.
It claimed it would provide £150m over four years to build new and improved mental health urgent and emergency care services – but this appears to be a reference to funding announced in 2021, which did not include any money for new staff. The government also touted a separate annual figure of £1bn to support community mental health services for people with serious mental illness, but this was announced in 2019, long before the decision was taken to withdraw police support.
Now NHS England has said no new funding is being provided for the plan, and that any additional resources required to answer more calls will have to come out of health trusts and councils’ existing budgets. It could require up to a million hours of staff time each year, based on estimates by Met Police chief Mark Rowley and Sarah Hughes, chief exec of the charity Mind.
Hughes said: “It is simply impossible to take a million hours of support out of the system without replacing it with investment, and mental health services are not resourced to step up overnight. These changes must be introduced slowly and carefully, so no one is abandoned without support.”
Councils have also expressed alarm that some police forces are moving to implement the plans, known as ‘Right Care, Right Person’, too soon.
The Metropolitan Police, which made a similar announcement two months ago, gave local health services just 13 weeks’ notice that it would stop attending mental health calls unless there was a threat to life on 31 August. By contrast, a pilot of the scheme took three years to implement in Humberside.
Last week, councillors in the London Borough of Hackney were warned by local officials that there would be “potential for [an] increase in incidents leading to harm, serious injury or risk to life due to timescales for implementation”.
A report by the council’s adult social care director said it was not known how ambulances and health services would meet the additional costs they could face.
Another London council, Merton, has said the Met is already refusing requests to attend mental health assessments organised by local authorities ahead of the deadline.
Benny Hunter
David Fothergill, who chairs the Local Government Association’s Community Wellbeing Board, said he was concerned that the plans were being rolled out too quickly.
“Mental health services are funded via councils’ social care budgets which are already under considerable pressure,” he added. “To deliver the best care possible for those experiencing a mental health crisis, alternative community services need to be fully funded across the country.”
A government spokesperson said: “The National Partnership Agreement has been signed by the Home Office, Department of Health and Social Care, together with health and policing partners, and provides a framework to ensure that people experiencing mental health crisis [sic] receive the most appropriate care by the right agency.
“The agreement today underlines a genuine commitment between police forces, health bodies and local authorities to collaborate and ensure plans successfully reflect the needs of local communities, as well as the capacity of local police and mental health services.”
A spokesperson for the College of Paramedics said: "We are deeply concerned about the potential impact on already stretched ambulance and mental health services, without an agreed timeframe and suitable funding for mental health services, this move risks shifting the burden from one overstretched service to others without due consideration of patient safety. Whilst we understand the direction of travel proposed with the National Partnership Agency that encourages the Police Services working more closely with system partners, the implementation will be critical.
With no obvious new funding to support this initiative, services could be waiting until next April for the extra two million pounds for additional mental health packages promised by the government. If this initiative is rolled out before sufficient mental health support is in place other services will be forced to take on even more and patients and their families may be caught in the middle."
Comments ()