A PLEDGE to improve mental healthcare which should stop vulnerable patients being locked up in police cells has been signed by Dorset’s main public agencies.

The Mental Health Crisis Care concordat, a national agreement between services and agencies involved in the care and support of people in crisis, was officially backed by the county’s police, healthcare and other community organisations this week.

It comes after shocking revelations during the Daily Echo’s They Deserve Better campaign.

This highlighted failures by CAMHS (Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services) in dealing with sexual abuse, the non-existence of psychiatric intensive care unit beds in Dorset for women, that police stations were used as a ‘place of safety’ for patients on 115 occasions in 2013/14 and officers had used tasers in cells to restrain people with psychiatric problems.

In a recent interview with the Daily Echo, care and support minister Norman Lamb said he would name and shame areas which did not sign up to the agreement and that using police cells to detain mentally ill people was “wholly unacceptable”.

He said the concordat outlines that police stations should only be used as a place of safety “on an exceptional basis.”

Speaking after the agreement was signed, Mr Lamb said: “I’d like to congratulate Dorset for signing their declaration and strongly urge others to follow suit.”

Martyn Underhill, Dorset Police crime commissioner and chair of the PCC mental health working group, said he was excited by the news and that it is now crucial agencies combine to help the mentally ill.

“The very fact that we needed a concordat displays the crux of the problem, nationally and here in Dorset,” he added.

“We need to make sure that the vulnerable receive the right care, at the right time and in the right place.

“They need to be looked after by a healthcare professional, not by a police officer and not in a police cell.”

Eugine Yafele, mental health lead for Dorset HealthCare, said: “Signing this concordat underlines our commitment to working with our partners to ensure that everyone receives the urgent support they need, when and where they need it.

“We have already launched a mental health street triage service with Dorset Police and hope to build on that example of good practice that has been recognised nationally.”