Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing NHS mental health ambulances.

On 23 January, the Government announced that, as part of the £150 million capital investment in National Health Service mental health urgent and emergency care, £7 million of the investment has been allocated to procure centrally up to 100 specially designed mental health ambulances over the next two years. The mental health ambulances, designed by patients and clinical experts, will be staffed by both physical and mental health professionals. They will be equipped to respond to and assess people on-scene or take people to the most appropriate place for care, both improving patient experience and reducing the number of people who are taken to accident and emergency by ambulance services.