[C]umbria’s Police and Crime Commissioner Peter McCall joined Carlisle and Eden Mind, People First and others to mark this year’s World Mental Health Day on Tuesday 10th October 2017.
The event included a pop-up café, pop-up cinema and information stands in Carlisle City Centre to encourage conversation about mental wellbeing.
Mr McCall said: “I believe it is very important to highlight the need to provide care and services that make a real difference to people’s mental health and well-being in Cumbria, and ensure that people will be treated with dignity and respect at all times. This includes those with mental health issues that get involved in the criminal justice system.
He added: “We are committed to working together across the county to ensure that people with mental health issues are kept safe and given the support that they need, whatever the circumstances in which they need help.
“For instance, I am pleased to say that in Cumbria we are doing what we can to help prevent people in mental health crisis spending hours in a police cell or in Accident and Emergency units while waiting for mental health services.
“Following a successful bid to the Home Office last year for funding, we have continued to work with the county’s health and social care providers and Cumbria Constabulary to develop a pilot programme called the Multi Agency Crisis Assessment Service (MACAS).
“This is a very exciting and innovative project and is the first time that partners from health and care services and the police have worked together as one team to make sure that those in mental health crisis get the right help at the right time by the right people.”
The MACAS programme consists of three main elements that each work interactively across a range of organisations and services:
- The Single Point of Access telephone line (SPA line)
- The Lighthouse Hub – a community hub run by two local charities.
- A 72 hour assessment centre
