Met police to stop going to mental health callouts

Police in London will no longer attend emergency calls related to mental health incidents, the Met’s commissioner has ruled

In a letter seen by the Guardian, Sir Mark Rowley says he will order his offi cers not to attend thousands of calls they get every year to deal with mental health incidents.

Rowley has given health and social care services a deadline of 31 August before the force starts its ban, which will be waived only if a threat to life is feared. The Metropolitan police commissioner believes the move is necessary and urgent because offi cers are being diverted from their core role of fi ghting crime and patients who need medical experts are failed when a police offi cer attends instead.

The plan could cause consternation among ambulance workers, paramedics and other NHS staff who are already under pressure because of cuts and at a time when mental health services are already stretched.

Rowley’s letter to the Met’s health and social care partners was sent on 24 May, giving them a 99-day deadline to plan for the change. The letter makes it clear he is frustrated with having to “fi ll gaps for others”.

Police and health chiefs have been talking about relieving the mental health burden that falls on policing under a new national scheme called right care, right person (RCRP).