Disturbing mental health detention

Up to twice as many people suffering mental health problems are being detained in police cells rather than a more appropriate hospital environment.

The data, collated from all 43 police forces in England and Wales, found that 11,500 people had been held in police custody as a “place of safety” for assessment under the Mental Health Act 2007—a situation condemned by Ian Bynoe, commissioner for the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

“It is intolerable that even though it has been government policy since 1990 that a hospital is a preferred place of safety for such an assessment, research shows that twice as many people are being detained in police custody rather than in a more fitting hospital environment,” Bynoe says.

Dr B Mahendra, barrister and consultant psychiatrist, says good practice requires that more formal assessments under the Act are undertaken soon after the reception of the patient—so as to make him either a voluntary patient or detain him under more formal civil provisions.

“There is usually also the urgent need to settle the patient,” Mahendra adds. “Apart from being a more appropriate location, a hospital could also provide the means of further management of these patients.”