PRT comment: Chief inspector calls for mental health assessments in police custody

Commenting on the call by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for assessments in police custody to prevent seriously mentally ill people ending up in prison today (5 August), Pia Sinha, chief executive of the Prison Reform Trust, said:

“We welcome the chief inspector’s intervention. Liaison and diversion services were introduced to ensure that people experiencing acute mental ill health are identified early and directed towards appropriate care, rather than being drawn further into the criminal justice system. When that doesn’t happen, opportunities to get people the support they need are missed, with significant consequences for them and those responsible for their care.

“Prisons are not hospitals and are not equipped to provide the specialist treatment that people in acute mental distress require. While the concerns raised here appear to relate to local processes, the difficulty of securing timely transfers to mental health beds is a longstanding national problem. The government’s decision to introduce a new 28-day limit for transfers from prison to hospital in the Mental Health Act was an important recognition of this issue, but the measure is not yet in force. Ministers must now turn that commitment into reality and end the unacceptable delays that leave seriously unwell people stuck in prison waiting for treatment.”