The UK’s mental health services have been underfunded for years due to . There are not enough mental health professionals in the UK to meet the demand, and waiting lists for mental health services are increasing. In order to ease the pressure on the NHS, other public services, namely the police, are being increasingly relied upon to identify and respond to people with mental problems.

Police are implementing several initiatives to equip their officers to deal with people who have mental health problems. “street triage”, for example, has been implemented in a number of police forces across England. It aims to improve the way officers deal with people who have mental health issues. Should the police or other public services act as substitute mental health services for people with mental illness?

We evaluated the mental health training of frontline police officers in our most recent research published in PLOS. Our results suggest that mental health training improves officers’ knowledge, attitude, and confidence when dealing with incidents related to mental health. It also enhances the way mental health incidents are documented.

Police officers must be able to recognize mental health issues because they account for 15-20% of their time. It is important to be able to identify mental health issues, but only if you have a way to get the help that is needed. Often, there isn’t.

Fragmented Approach

In January 2017, the UK government announced that it would invest an extra PS1 billion in mental health services until 2020. This will end years of funding reductions. Many government policies aim to improve UK Mental Health Services and ensure that Mental Health is given equal priority with physical health (so-called ” Parity of Esteem “). The gap between the goals of mental health and what is currently being provided in terms of services is huge and requires more than visionary policies and large investments.

Jeremy Hunt has pledged to spend an additional PS1.3 billion on mental health services before 2020. Twocoms/Shutterstock

In recent years, the government has talked a lot about integrated health care and social services. What is needed, however, is that all frontline services work together in order to find practical solutions for our mental health crisis. In the current austerity climate, commissioners have to make tough decisions on which areas should be funded. Our public services are driven by targets and compete for funding, which encourages them to compete rather than work together to solve common problems.

The initiatives that help to respond to those in need of mental health care are often funded by organizations or bodies that were set up to improve individual services, such as health, police, or education. This means that a lot of effort is put into finding single-service solutions to issues such as mental healthcare.

A second concern is the introduction of initiatives without sufficient evidence as to whether they work or not. Street triage is a good example. With limited funds, it is better to invest in something that has been proven to be effective.

Mental health: A collective response

The question of how the police can help people with mental problems is a good way to raise broader questions about our collective response and the shortcomings in current service provision.

It is impossible to expect the police, teachers, or GPs to handle mental health issues in isolation. Mental health is complex and requires that people be treated by mental health professionals who are trained in the field. Public services must also work together to make sure people can access care when they need it.

The current solutions are only stop-gaps and quick fixes and do not address the core problem, which is that there aren’t enough services to meet the demand.

We need to stop providing “sticking-plaster” solutions to mental illness. Otherwise, people with mental problems will be passed from service to service or not be able to receive treatment due to overstretched mental health services.