Girl in mental health crisis held in police cell due to lack of NHS beds

A 16 year old girl in the middle of a mental health crisis has been held in a police cell for 48 hours because there were no hospital beds available, The Independent reports. Assistant Chief Constable Paul Netherton of Devon and Cornwall Police revealed the incident in a tweet on Saturday night. 

The CEO of Rethink Mental Illness, Mark Winstanley, said: ''...many people are being turned away from 'places of safety', because of staff shortages or lack of spaces. In some parts of the country, there are no health-based places of safety full-stop.''.