Debate contribution: PSNI: Pressure due to Health System Failings

Debate contribution by Ms Cheryl Brownlee on 1 December 2025.

MLA

Ms Cheryl Brownlee

Party at the time

Democratic Unionist Party

Date

1 December 2025

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

PSNI: Pressure due to Health System Failings

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5269453

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I declare an interest as a member of the Policing Board. The public rightly expect the PSNI to focus on keeping our community safe and responding to crime. However, it is through no fault of their own that officers are being diverted to roles that they are neither trained nor resourced to carry out. The PSNI has told the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee that officers are now responding to 107 "concern for safety" calls every day and that only 3% of those calls have anything to do with actual crime. Officers spend an average of 14 hours in A&E waiting for someone who needs a mental health assessment, and deploying police officers to hundreds of such incidents is not the most appropriate use of policing resources, nor is it safe or sustainable. At the Policing Board, all members have repeatedly raised concerns about the unsustainability of pressures on the front line, and we all know that the PSNI cannot continue to act as the service of last resort simply because other parts of the system are not functioning. It was during my time on the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) that we looked at the inquiry into mental health, and it highlighted that Northern Ireland spends less per head on mental health than any other part of the UK despite having some of the highest levels of need. It also exposed the fact that over 17,500 people are on a waiting list for their first appointment. The PAC described that as unacceptable and rightly so. However, those are not just numbers on a page; they are people who are struggling every day to access support. When a crisis worsens, that will, in some cases, fall at the door of the PSNI. The inquiry also highlighted a number of things about that provision, particularly around services for those who have had a dual diagnosis of mental health and addiction issues. Again, we have not really dealt with that effectively. As a result of a lack of crisis services, those in need are forced to attend emergency departments just to get basic help and support. More complex mental health needs are now presenting, and we are aware of the workforce challenges. Invest to save was the main message from the inquiry, and I know that the proposer of the motion detailed that today. All of this is happening at a time when officer numbers are at critically low levels and when officers are under extreme pressure from all angles. We cannot ignore the reality that police officers, however dedicated they are, are not trained clinical professionals. When they are sitting for hours in emergency departments with someone in distress, they cannot give that person the care that they need, and they are being dragged away from the core duties that the public expect them to carry out. We all know that the Health Minister must accelerate the delivery of the mental health strategy. I know the challenges that he continually faces, but we also know that we must work collaboratively, and that includes the Justice Minister. They must show leadership by ensuring that Right Care, Right Person is implemented properly and safely. We recognise that progress has been made, but, of course, the strategy must be accelerated. I recently received correspondence, which I welcome, in which it is said that both Health and the police are approaching the point when they are ready to launch the first stage of Right Care, Right Person. That is really welcome news. We want to see vulnerable people getting the right support at the right time and that being worked on collaboratively to ensure that people get the help that they need. We will, of course, support any measure that improves care for those experiencing mental ill health. People in crisis deserve clinical care, not a policing response by default, and, of course, our officers deserve to focus on the job that they were trained for.

659 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 14:03 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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