'Barbaric' cell system ends

Police have been praised for their sensitivity

Mentally ill people arrested in the Highlands will no longer be kept overnight in a police cell before being transferred to hospital.

Campaigners have branded the system "barbaric" and urged Highland Primary Care Trust to come up with an alternative.

Acting medical director Dr Ian Johnston said an arrangement had now been reached to put staff on call to deal immediately with people experiencing mental health conditions.

"Problems have been caused in the past as a result of the geography of the area," he said.

"We recognise that this is unacceptable and it is not ideal for patients and their relatives.

"It is also not fair on the police because the patients can be aggressive."

Patients with mental disorders in the Highlands have been housed in cells ahead of being transferred up to 200 miles to nearest appropriate hospital in Inverness.

Beds reduced

Dr Johnston said the trust had reached a "firm decision" in order that staff could be dispatched to deal with transfers as they occur.

The move follows discussions with local health care co-operatives and local clinicians.

The problem arose from a lack of an out-of-hours mental health service in rural areas and the long delays for specialist ambulance transport.

The number of psychiatric beds in the NHS has been significantly reduced over the past 40 years, in line with policies to encourage more people with a mental illness to live in the community.

Skye and Lochaber are the worst affected, but the practice is used throughout rural Scotland.

Latest attempts to have it outlawed have led to the launch of a nationwide study into the inadequate level of mental health services in outlying areas.