A senior police officer has voiced concerns that the closure of Harrogate’s mental health assessment suite is putting an added strain on emergency services.
North Yorkshire Police chief inspector Alex Langley said people who are detained under the Mental Health Act have been taken as far as Scarborough or Darlington after the closure of the section 136 suite at Harrogate District Hospital’s Briary Wing in May 2020.
It has meant police officers have been out of action for several hours as they drive detainees around the county.
Speaking at a recent Harrogate Borough Council meeting, Chf Insp Langley described the scale of the mental health crisis and impact on officers as “phenomenal”. He said.
“We don’t have a section 136 suite in Harrogate any more so if we detain somebody under the mental health act we could end up in Darlington or Scarborough, and that is a real challenge for us.
“They have to go in an ambulance and it takes multiple officers and a significant amount of time.”
He added:
“I would love for my officers to not have to go to any mental health incidents and actually send a mental health professional with better training and competence than we have.
“But in reality with the cuts, if we get a call from somebody who is in crisis and we are the last barrier then we have to go.”
Read more:
- Harrogate families describe anguish of mental health problems and impact of Briary Unit closure
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Mental health services in the Harrogate district are provided by the Tees, Esk and Wear Valley NHS Foundation Trust, which said it has an assessment suite in Haxby, north of York.
It added its staff work closely with North Yorkshire Police and that new ways of working have seen a reduction in detentions under the mental health act.
Impact on police times
Zoe Campbell, managing director of the trust’s North Yorkshire, York and Selby care group, said:
“For many people, receiving care and treatment in their own home can have the best outcome.
“We aim to provide crisis support and mental health assessments in a person’s home or as close to home as we can.
“Where this is not possible, we provide alternative places of safety for an assessment to take place. This way of working has seen a reduction in the number of people detained under section 136 of the Mental Health Act.”
The lack of custody cells for all types of arrests was recently raised as a concern by county councillors who said they were worried over a wider impact on police response times.
Members of North Yorkshire’s Police, Fire and Crime Panel have asked commissioner Zoe Metcalfe to provide a report into the impact of officers in the north of the county having to take detainees to Harrogate and Scarborough following the closure of cells in Richmond and Northallerton.
Panel member Martin Walker, a former judge, told commissioner Metcalfe he had received various reports that police were “not arresting people that perhaps they should” because of the added travel time. He said:
Harrogate district businesses ask police for help tackling anti-social behaviour“I can’t see there is any other reason for doing it than saving money.”
A Harrogate police officer has said there is “no perfect solution” to town centre anti-social behaviour after businesses asked for help.
A Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce meeting on Monday heard concerns about behaviour on Bower Street and outside McDonald’s restaurant in Harrogate, as well as at Knaresborough castle.
Chief Inspector Alex Langley and Superintendent Theresa Lam started by giving an overview of police issues in Harrogate in which they said Parliament Street was “the busiest ward” in the county for incidents.
A delegate said one business had already been forced to close on Bower Street because of persistent anti-social behaviour and asked whether the police could do anything to prevent people “milling around”.
Chief Inspector Alex Langley
Ch Insp Langley said police had an input on street design but admitted there was little they could do in trouble spots such as Bower Street and outside McDonald’s. Talking about the area outside the restaurant, he said:
“It’s been a problem since I started 19 years ago and will continue to be because it’s the perfect place to sit.
“There’s no perfect solution for moving on people that aren’t committing crimes.”
He said if the problem was tackled in one area it would only move to another.
A Knaresborough businesswoman said late night drinkers congregated in the castle grounds at Knaresborough because the lack of streetlighting made it an “ideal place to go”. But she said they often left broken glass, which was then a problem for dog walkers and tourists the next day.
Chf Insp Langley said he would report the issue to the police neighbourhood awareness team.
He urged businesses and people to report crimes, saying the police could only act if they were aware of problems.
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