There should be a ‘one-stop shop’ in the area for the public to refer people with mental health issues, a councillor has said.
A mask-wearing person terrorising children with a toy gun and a man asking to get in people’s cars were examples given of incidents in South Holland where members of the public had tried to get the individuals help but had been left frustrated by “the system”, councillors claimed.
The discussion came as South Holland District Council’s Executive discussed its new Safeguarding Policy and Procedures on Tuesday.
Coun Roger Gambba-Jones said: “I’ve recently seen the frustration experienced by the public in my own ward about a particular individual.
“This individual on the face of it looked to be able but was having a period of peculiar behaviour in that they were wondering about their particular locale seeking lifts from complete strangers and also making phone calls.
“People raised concerns on a local social media site and had attempted to communicate with levels of social services. This is where the system appeared not to work.
“Regrettably it wasn’t at our (the district council’s) level, it was the next level where the public were told by those they contacted it wasn’t their job and they couldn’t assist.
“The public became frustrated very, very quickly with the system.”
Coun Gamba-Jones said action was only taken through “persistence”.
“We have a comprehensive document yet when the public try to use the system there’s still these barriers when they raise concerns.
“People in the system are saying it’s up to relatives and other people to do their job first. We can’t engage without relatives’ engagements first.
“I hope there’s some way we can assist people in the community who are paying attention to concerns about others who are beginning to struggle and showing signs they’re no longer able to cope but not bad enough to come into contact with the system and who are rejected by their own relatives who can’t be bothered.
“We’ve had several people recently being found in fields, sometimes 48 hours later. The most recent one was where they disappeared for three years and were found not far away in Spalding.”
Coun Anthony Casson mentioned a person in his ward running up and down a street frightening young children with a mask on and a toy gun.
“The police were involved and it was obvious the person needed help,” he said. “The children were told not to go out even in their own gardens because of being frightened so much and the police and different authorities took ages to get it sorted and realise how serious it was before anything happened.”
Coun Bryan Alcock said: “This is nothing new. It’s been going on for years and years.
“People in this situation get distraught and don’t know what to do. What the general public want is a one-stop shop.
“It doesn’t matter which bit of the service they’re going to interact with, they want somewhere to be able to contact instead of being told ‘it’s not my job, it’s somebody else’s.”
