The struggles of the region's mental health trust are piling "additional pressure" on police officers as they try to investigate crime, a report has said.
An inspection into Norfolk Constabulary has criticised the Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust over the impact mental health patients have on the county's police force.
It reads: "The inability of the trust to manage its demand effectively places additional pressure on the force, whose officers are often the first responders to people in mental health crises."
Experts say it is highly unusual for HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services, which carried out the inspection, to single out individual outside organisations for criticism.
Paul Sanford, Norfolk's chief constable has claimed 60pc of police time in the county is taken up by propping up health services - including dealing with mental health patients and ambulance delays.
He said this effectively stood in the way of the force being able to investigate crimes, as so much time is spent responding to people in mental health crises.
He told BBC Radio Norfolk: "Our first duty is to protect the public but I know if I fell ill - whether that is with mental ill health or physically - I would want a medically-trained professional to come to me and not a police officer.
"When police officers go to these people we are committed to hours and hours looking after that individual.
"We will always do that because it is the right thing to do, but we are under no illusions that when we are doing that it impacts our ability to investigate crime."
Stuart Richardson, chief executive of NSFT, in response to the inspection report, said: "Mental health is a system-wide issue and we work closely with partner organisations, including the police, to improve the quality of the 24-hour care we all deliver.
"However, demand for mental health services has been steadily increasing for several years and we are seeing more people with complex problems and more people in crisis.
"This, in turn, puts more pressure on all of our services."
Mr Richardson said efforts to address this issue are being made, which include mental health staff working alongside police control room workers.
He added: "We are working with our partners to collectively manage these issues.
"This includes mental health staff in Norfolk working in the police control room and attending appointments with officers when police identify someone who is a person of concern and may require support.
"Our mental health car, which is crewed by a paramedic from the ambulance service and a specialist mental health practitioner, is also available to respond to 999 calls across Norfolk and Waveney when there is a mental health concern."
Previously, Andy Symonds, chairman of the Norfolk Police Federation highlighted the issue, stating: “Of course, we should be called if a crime is being committed or the person in crisis may cause harm to others or themselves.
"But when we do it means we are left holding the baby until other services become available to take on the responsibility.”
Mental health campaigners say that it is "critical" that mental health services and the police can work more collaboratively to address these concerns.
A spokesman for the Campaign to Save Mental Health Services in Norfolk and Suffolk said: "It is not just pressures on the force - it is the impact on service users, some of whom become criminalised.
"Mental health is not the police's core job, therefore, we see service users misunderstood and not responded to compassionately.
"Conversely, we hear of police officers who are more compassionate, responsive and knowledgeable than mental health professionals - they save lives.
"We see police identifying risk that is ignored by NSFT, only for the person to do.
"It is critical that the police and mental health services work in partnership and that there are trauma-informed mental health services available to prevent unnecessary demand on the police and the additional trauma where the police have to step in to cover for NSFT's inadequacy."
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