A NEW pilot scheme to tackle emergency incidents involving mental health issues will be rolled out across Lancashire from today.

The Mental Health Response Service (MHRS) will see police officers working with dedicated NHS mental health nurses who can make assessments and referrals allowing people to get appropriate medical attention on the spot, rather than being taken to police custody or the hospital.

The project is also aimed at reducing demand whilst ensuring that people get the right assistance at the first point of contact.

From August mental health nurses will also be working within the force control room where 999 calls are answered, monitoring calls and offering advice to those reporting mental health related matters.

Lancashire Police's force lead for early action, assistant chief constable Mark Bates said: “We receive all sorts of calls where mental health is a factor, from those just calling for someone to speak to because they are lonely and depressed, to people threatening to commit suicide.

“This scheme is about taking action and supporting people at the earliest opportunity to prevent problems rather than responding to them.

"It means that individuals and families receive the most appropriate, quality support to ultimately build social resilience and create thriving communities.

“A quarter of the incidents that we deal with have some sort of related, and often complex, mental health issues attached and so the service will allow us to get upstream in helping those people to get the right response and support at first contact.

“Therefore, individuals are less likely to enter the criminal justice system and less likely to need the services of police and other agencies, helping to reduce demand on all frontline services.”

Andrew Stephenson, MP for Pendle, said: "I very much welcome this initiative.

"It's clearly best practice from other forces and I think that it will make a difference.

"I spent a shift shadowing the police recently and I was struck by the number of cases where it would be far more appropriate that NHS staff dealt with it than police officers.

"I'm delighted that it is being rolled out in Lancashire."

The initiative has been funded by Blackburn with Darwen and Chorley and South Ribble Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCG) and the police innovation fund (PIF), whilst Lancashire Care Foundation Trust is providing the mental health nurses on this pilot.

Clive Grunshaw, Lancashire's Police and Crime Commissioner, said: "The Mental Health Response Service will mean anybody experiencing mental health conditions, who comes into contact with the police, will get the right intervention straight away."