Crisis care restrictions revealed

A new map developed by the Care Quality Commission highlights worrying restrictions in access to health-based places of safety for young people experiencing a mental health crisis. People who have been detained by the police under Section 136 of the Mental Health Act must be taken immediately to a safe place where a mental health assessment can be undertaken. This should be a ‘health-based place of safety’, located in a mental health hospital or an emergency department at a general hospital. They should only be taken to a police station in exceptional circumstances.

In the financial year 2012/13, there were 21,814 reported uses of Section 136, of which 7,761 involved the use of a police cell. CQC’s work with HM Inspectorate of Constabulary, HM Inspectorate of Prisons and Healthcare Inspectorate Wales in May and June 2012 found that some of the most common reasons for the use of police custody related to the unavailability of health-based places of safety because there were not enough staff or beds.

The map – which draws on a CQC survey of mental health providers earlier this year - shows the locations of all 161 health-based places of safety in England and gives details of opening times, the areas they serve, their capacity, and the age groups they accept.

CQC’s survey found that, while all but one upper tier local authority (county or municipal borough) area is served by a health-based place of safety, over 20% of these areas are not served by a place of safety which accepts young people under the age of 16.

Home Secretary, Theresa May, said: “The CQC’s findings are significant. It is not acceptable for any local area to lack a health-based place of safety. As I have made clear, people detained under the Mental Health Act should not be held in police cells. The best place for people suffering a mental health crisis is a proper healthcare setting.

“I have made it a priority to improve the way people with mental health issues – including under-18s – are treated when they come into contact with the police. The Secretary of State for Health and I expect the findings of this report to be acted upon quickly.”