More criminals will get psychiatric help

In a green paper on punishment, rehabilitation and sentencing, the Ministry of Justice has said it will pilot and roll out liaison and diversion services nationally by November 2014.

It also said there will be more capacity for the treatment of offenders with severe personality disorders as well as those with drug addictions.

Liaison and diversion services, based in magistrates’ courts and increasingly in police stations, refer people from the criminal justice system to mental health services.

Andy Bell, deputy chief executive of think tank the Centre for Mental Health, said the services involve a team of people who identify people who has mental health needs and refer them on for treatment or support. “It can be diverting someone from being charged or just run alongside the justice system,” he said.

But existing services are “sparse and threadbare in consistency and standards of coverage”, he added.

There are currently 100-150 liaison and diversion schemes in England, which the Centre for Mental Health estimates reaches around a fifth of the offenders who require mental health support.

Most schemes are commissioned by primary care trusts – at an estimated £80,000 a year each – but it is unclear whether this responsibility will be passed to consortia or the NHS commissioning board.

A Department of Health spokesman said: “The NHS commissioning board will determine the most appropriate arrangements for prison health services working with criminal justice agencies and GP consortia.”

The green paper backs the recommendation in a report by Lord Bradley, published in April 2009, for a national liaison and diversion service. It found there were only 13 schemes which have consistent success, with larger and jointly funded schemes proving more effective.

Mental Health Network director Steve Shrubb said diversion was needed but services must be made available to cope with the referrals: “On its own, diversion is not enough, you need something to divert them to,” he said.