Caithness mental health warning over hospital incidents attended by police
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A doubling in the number of “concern for person” incidents attended by police at Caithness General Hospital underlines the scale of the county's mental health crisis, a local campaigner has warned.
Ron Gunn, chairman of Caithness Health Action Team, said it was important that those in need of help be referred to appropriate professionals as soon as possible.
He was speaking after it emerged that police attended 14 “concern for person” incidents at the Wick hospital during 2022 – twice as many as the previous year, and continuing a steadily rising trend going back to 2018.
In January, it emerged that Police Scotland had attended 695 “concern for person” incidents in Caithness as a whole during 2022 – close to an average of two per day. The local authority area of Thurso and Northwest Caithness accounted for 379 incidents, while there were 316 in Wick and East Caithness.
Mr Gunn, who is also a Highland councillor for Thurso and Northwest Caithness, said: “The increase in ‘concern for person’ incidents attended by police at Caithness General Hospital and the almost 700 annual incidents are further evidence that there is a mental health crisis in Caithness.
"It is really important that those needing help are referred to professionals as soon as possible and not have to wait on a list for a very long time.
"Folk who end up in crisis really need professional help right away and unfortunately we do not have the appropriate 24/7 cover in Caithness to deal with this. It is then left to the police, who openly admit they are not the appropriate professionals to deal with these incidents.”
Both sets of figures were obtained through Freedom of Information requests to Police Scotland submitted by a Caithness resident who has asked not to be named.
In a response dated April 14, Police Scotland provided a table of statistics showing that its officers attended four “concern for person” incidents within Caithness General in 2018, five the following year, six in 2020 and seven in 2021 before the rate doubled to 14 last year.
The 2018 figure relates to the period from February 6 that year.
The person who made the request said: "This is a perfect example of how Caithness General Hospital is not equipped to deal with individuals who are in crisis."
A spokesperson for NHS Highland said: "The pandemic has had an impact on the mental health and wellbeing of people worldwide. Approximately one in four people experience a mental health problem at some point in their lifetime and at any one time approximately one in six people have a mental health problem.
"NHS Highland works very closely with agencies across the Highland area to support people who may be in need of assistance.
"We would also highlight that the Highland Community Planning Partnership has developed a local website offering a list of services, information, and training around the subject of mental health and wellbeing."
