Mental Health Services: North Yorkshire

(asked on 2nd May 2023) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that appropriate provision is in place to support mental health patients in North Yorkshire; and what steps he is taking to help ensure that the police are not used as a backstop for people experiencing mental health challenges.


Answered by
Maria Caulfield Portrait
Maria Caulfield
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
This question was answered on 11th May 2023

It is the responsibility of NHS Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of its local population.

The NHS Long Term Plan commits an additional £2.3 billion a year for the expansion and transformation of mental health services in England by March 2024 so that an additional two million people, including people in North Yorkshire, can get the National Health Service-funded mental health support that they need.

The Department and NHS England are committed to developing a national partnership agreement with the Home Office and the National Police Chiefs’ Council and are engaging with police and health partners and experts by experience. The new agreement will be underpinned by the principle that mental health incidents should receive a health response first, while recognising some situations may still require a police presence.

To better support people experiencing a mental health crisis and reduce pressure on the police and on urgent and emergency care services, we are improving average ambulance response times, delivering the commitment to make urgent mental health support universally available via NHS 111, rolling out specialised mental health ambulances, supported by £7 million of capital investment and investing £143 million in over 160 capital projects, including new and improved health-based places of safety and safe spaces to help ensure people can receive appropriate support and care in community settings.

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