Extra £12 million to be spent to expand prison mental health services.

An extra £12 million will be spent over the next two years to help expand services that make mental health assessments available to those arrested.

Presently, 50,000 people a year are assessed by liaison and diversion services following arrests. Almost 70% of those people require mental health support. The aim of this extra funding will extend NHS England liaison and diversion services from 50% coverage to 75% by 2018.

The investment will help mentally unwell people, including people with learning disabilities or autism get the right care as urgently as possible, supporting work between the police and NHS.

The services provided by liaison and diversion services can help ensure fair access to justice, avoid adjournments, and limit the number of court hearings and periods on remand. If appropriate, vulnerable people can be diverted from the criminal justice and placed into treatment instead.

Alistair Burt, mental health minister has said: “We have made monumental strides in the way we think about and treat mental illness in this country in the last few decades – but people with a mental illness, learning disabilities or autism still need support when they come into contact with the criminal justice system.

Expanding the successful liaison and diversion scheme will help make sure these factors are taken into account so more vulnerable people have their needs considered.

The next 2 years will see the service expanded to cover all major urban areas, securing services in the areas of most need. This will build on the successful roll-out of services over the last 2 years that have identified and assessed over 71,000 vulnerable adults, children and young people. Subject to evaluation, full roll out should be achieved by 2020.”

SOURCE: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/increased-mental-health-services-for-those-arrested

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