We fear for the many individuals and families for whom the police are the only people to respond when they feel they are reaching crisis point (Ministers tell police to respond to fewer mental health-related 999 calls, 26 July).
We recognise the frustration of the police in substituting for mental health services, and we understand the waste of officers’ time of an average 12 hours spent sitting with a person in a hospital’s A&E department. But if there is no one else, the likelihood is that they will leave, at risk to themselves.
