A LACK of support for mental health patients is placing a huge strain on police officers in North Wales, it has been warned.

North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner Arfon Jones said police in the region are becoming increasingly frustrated by the limited availability of health and community services for people with mental illnesses.

Mr Jones, a former inspector and county councillor from Wrexham, highlighted a number of cases where officers had either been left waiting for long periods with patients in Accident and Emergency departments or travelling significant distances to find an available bed.

It includes one example where a teenager from Wrexham had to be driven 77 miles to hospital in a police car after threatening to self-harm, and a 128-mile trip for a man who was detained under Section 136 of the Mental Health Act.

Addressing a meeting of the North and Mid Wales Association of Town Councils in Connah’s Quay, Mr Jones said patients were suffering as a result and cautioned that the problem would escalate unless out of hours mental health services were revamped.

He said: “There are obvious shortfalls in local provision of health and community-based places of safety and the force spends a considerable amount of its time and resources dealing with mental health problems.

“North Wales has three mental health units in Bangor, Bodelwyddan and Wrexham. Community services do not operate outside of office hours. There are no triage facilities or sanctuaries available.

“Dealing with increased mental health demand has been identified by officers in North Wales Police as the greatest external demand placed upon them and the large numbers of incidents, allied to limited available health-related options to help deal with them effectively, is the single biggest source of frustration for them.

“One of the main challenges for officers includes the need to wait with patients in A&E for medical treatment prior to attending the mental health unit for an assessment.”

Mr Jones discussed one incident where officers were called to assist a social worker in Wrexham after a 16-year-old boy threatened to self-harm .

After detaining him they took the boy to the mental health unit at Wrexham Maelor Hospital, only to be told he would need to go to Ysbyty Glan Clwyd.

When they arrived at hospital in Bodelwyddan, they were then turned round and sent back to Wrexham.

Another example saw officers forced to take a man who was trying to harm himself to Glan Clwyd because no ambulances were available.

On arrival they were told that there were no spare beds, meaning he had to be placed into custody.

After securing a bed for him at a different unit in Bangor, they got there to find it was no longer free, which led the man to become agitated and he was returned to cells in Caernarfon.

He was finally taken to a mental health unit in Wrexham after control room staff found a space.

Mr Jones said being supervised by police officers could often “exacerbate and deepen” a patient’s illness.

He said: “Driving with patients, who are medically unwell, in a secure police vehicle is a very challenging situation to manage for the patient and officer alike and can worsen the condition of the patient.

“It is apparent that partners need to come together urgently to redesign community-based out-of-hours mental health services for the good of our entire communities, or current problems will escalate further.

“There is only so long that North Wales Police can continue to pick up the pieces for other partners.”

In 2016 a review into 96 incidents relating to concerns for people’s safety found that 39 per cent were dealt with by North Wales Police when their attendance was not required and was inappropriate.

As a result, the force created a new policy allowing control room staff to push mental health related requests back to more appropriate agencies, leading to a reduction in inappropriate attendances and an increase in joint visits.

Other initiatives the emergency service has introduced include a street triage team for people facing a mental health crisis in Wrexham and mental health practitioners working in the police control room.

However, Mr Jones said he wanted to see more done by other organisations to address the issue.

He added: “While there are positive steps and evidence of integrated working, the problem of availability of mental health practitioners outside of office hours, lack of availability of crisis centres or sanctuaries and triage facilities are all current blockers to providing an effective service and reducing demand in North Wales.”