WILTSHIRE'S Police and Crime Commissioner Angus Macpherson says the force's custody cells are not the right places for people with mental illness, after hearing of the case reported in the Wiltshire Times this week in which a woman had to spend a night in police custody because there was no bed for her at Green Lane Hospital in Devizes.

Mr Macpherson said his visit was prompted by receiving a report from a member of the Independent Custody Visitor Panel, taking to his blog to write:

"Last week one of our ICVs highlighted to me a visit she had just made to Melksham. I am pleased to say the ICV was not concerned about the treatment by Wiltshire Police of the detainee. She was questioning if custody was the right place for this particular detainee.

"The female was being held in custody because, following her arrest, it had become apparent to officers that she was unwell. She was having a mental health crisis and needed medical care and support.

"The priority for custody staff is to get that person the medical help they need. So I was concerned to hear that the female detainee had been kept in a police cell overnight and in to the next day because no hospital beds were available.

"I decided to visit Melksham Custody to see if I could understand what it might be like to be in that person’s situation.

"Although it is clean, light and airy, it is not a pleasant place to be (and that is no reflection on the dedicated custody staff), but then no custody unit is.

"Taking off my shoes and socks, jacket, tie and braces I sat on the bed in a cell trying to imagine what it must be like to be there for up to 24 hours, like some of the detainees who have recently spent time there under the Mental Health Act.

"Imagine sitting in a cell with nothing to do and in a fragile mental state. It must be quite a lonely place to be. Particularly when the only reason you are there is because you are mentally ill.

"It is certainly not the right place for someone in need of treatment.

"Regular updates from the Force Mental Health Liaison Officer tell me these are not isolated cases both locally and nationally. I sit on the Wiltshire and Swindon Health and Wellbeing boards and regularly raise this issue. Together with partners we are working to find a solution. This cannot come soon enough.

"I will be continuing to press the case for improved NHS services, so those suffering a mental health crisis in Wiltshire have access to a hospital bed as soon as they need it."