EXCLUSIVE: Number of suicides and attempted suicides on Greater Manchester's motorways doubles in five years
All this week Hits Radio is shining a light on what can be done to help people battling mental health problems as we launch our People Care Campaign
Last updated 14th Jan 2019
Hits Radio can exclusively reveal the number of suicides and attempted suicides on Greater Manchester's motorways has almost doubled in the past five years.
Highways England officers say they dealt with 283 incidents in 2018, compared to 160 in 2015.
At the same time, Greater Manchester Police say they have seen a rise in concern for welfare call-outs to people who have been spotted on bridges over the motorway network.
Chief Inspector Ian Hopkins said:
"Often people are often in crisis when we get the call out, over the last four or five years - you'll have seen it and we've seen it - there's been a big rise in the number of people struggling with their mental health. In the last year, we've had to use Section 136 of the Mental Health Act to take someone to safety for assessment 1,700 times, only the Metropolitan Police have more than that.
"Police officers are tied up waiting for medical professionals to make an assessment. Our officers can spend up to five hours in A&E waiting for assessment. Around 20% of our available resources are taken up with dealing with mental ill health. Our officers are police officers, they're trained to do many things but they're not mental health professionals.
"We need to ensure that there's early intervention, bringing people together with the same shared purpose of keeping people safe."
Already, Greater Manchester Police have partnered with NHS to offer specialist mental health support within call centres.
As part of the 24/7 Triage service, trained mental health professionals based at the Clayton Brook communications centre assess incidents relating to mental health and provide advice and support to police staff.
Mental health staff are also on hand to provide expert clinical advice to police officers through telephone or video conferencing, supporting them when dealing with incidents involving people who are experiencing mental health problems.
The Chief said these sorts of partnerships are vital to ensuring people are kept safe:
"The triage system is great news because it means people are getting the best care, while also freeing up police officers to deal with the things that require police attention. If you've got someone who says they know the individual, they know what they're dealing with then they also know what to offer them. It lowers the tone on everything and calms things down."
All this week, we will be looking at the ongoing issue, the support available and how ordinary people are making a difference.
To listen to the full People Care Campaign documentary, click here:
If you are struggling, visit:
Samaritans: https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help-you/contact-us
Mind: https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/support-community-elefriends