Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what real-time information NHS England provides to the police and ambulance services on the availability of health-based places of safety.

NHS England does not provide real-time information to the police and ambulance services on the availability of health-based places of safety. It is for providers of health-based places of safety – most often National Health Service mental health trusts – to determine the information that is shared with police and ambulance services regarding the real-time availability of health-based places of safety.

NHS England has funded three areas to pilot digital tools to inform the development of capacity and demand management functionality. These tools show the capacity of local services to health and social care professionals, joint ‘triage’ teams and the police, providing them with real-time access to information on the nearest available section 136 suites. NHS England is currently in the process of determining how best to share the learning from these pilot areas.