Mental health emergencies double in London in three years
Paramedics are responding to almost twice as many mental health emergencies in the capital as three years ago, Britain's most senior ambulance chief has warned. Jason Killens saidcrewswere dealing with a. . .
Paramedics are responding to almost twice as many mental health emergencies in the capital as three years ago, Britain's most senior ambulance chief has warned. Jason Killens saidcrewswere dealing with a "massive" rise in demand from high-risk, complex patients who were increasingly difficult to manage. National figures show record numbers of assaults on staff, with the violence fuelled by alcohol,drugsandmental health crises. Mr Killens, who is head of London Ambulance Service, and chairman of the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives, said: "We've seen a 90 per cent increase in patients accessing the 999 service for mental health related issues in the last three years. "It's up 60,000 jobs in the last 24 months. Massive. Each of those patients is often high risk, often complex, difficult to manage, and placing them into services which are appropriate for them is a real challenge. "Mr Killens spoke of the rise in demand from high-risk, complex patients - Geoff Pugh for The TelegraphMr Killens said services were creating specialist mental-health paramedics because traditional training did not adequately prepare crews for the growing demand. He said: "We're having to think differently about how we train and support our people because the demand has changed. "In an interview with The Telegraph, Mr Killens said there was no single explanation for the sharp rise in mental health emergencies. He said illicit drug use was "definitely" playing a part, along with alcohol. "I think we've got, arguably, people are more vulnerable, or certainly in our communities there are people who are vulnerable, who perhaps find it difficult to access services which might previously have kept them healthy. "Official figures show 99,287 mental-health-related 999 calls handled by London Ambulance Service in the year to Jan 31, 2026 – a near doubling from 52,753 in 2022-23. The rise also follows a shift in police policies to stop routinely attending mental health incidents. In the year since the policy was introduced in 2023, the number of ambulances sent out to deal with mental health crises rose by around 40 per cent, separate data suggest. Mr Killens said staff across the country were also seeing a steep rise in violence and aggression. The ambulance chief, who trained as an ambulance technician almost 30 years ago, said reported incidents had risen by 15 per cent across the country in the last year. The increase means an ambulance worker somewhere in Britain is subjected to violence or aggression every 20 to 25 minutes. Figures from London Ambulance Service show a 35 per cent increase in assaults in just two years, with 2,921 cases in 2025-26. Some incidents were fuelled by drink and drugs, while others appeared to stem from a loss of respect for the public sector, or frustration about waiting times, he said. "I think there's a general kind of downturn in respect for public sector and uniform workers, that's an issue," he said, suggesting that a "general kind of frustration" about the state of the health service sometimes overspilled into aggression. While waiting times have improved in recent years, he said frustration remains a feature. And he warned that staff were increasingly suffering sexual assaults while out on jobs. "The violence and aggression piece is a big problem for us, but it's also got quite a nasty element to it for our people. "When you start to unpick the data, what we're seeing is a growing trend of sexual assault against clinicians from patients and/or bystanders," he said. Ambulance workers now face record levels of violence, with 22,536 incidents of abuse and assault reported across UK ambulance services last year, separate national figures show. The attacks, including punching, kicking, spitting and sexual assault, are the highest ever recorded and have risen by almost 15 per cent in a year. London's data for last year showed 54 per cent of front-line staff had been physically attacked while on duty and 47 per cent had been sexually harassed. Of staff who reported being sexually harassed by patients or service users, 63 per cent were female. In addition, 68 per cent of 999 call handlers and 47 per cent of 111 health advisers had been harassed, threatened or verbally abused. Mr Killens said: "For our people in the workplace, probably the single biggest issue they report to us is violence and aggression. "Analysis suggests drugs and alcohol are factors in around 40 per cent of assaults. Mr Killens said data suggested assaults were more likely to be carried out by men under 35 and often involved alcohol or drugs. "When you look at the data, we know violence is more likely to be perpetrated by a male. They're more likely to be under 35 and they're more likely to have drink and/or drugs on board," he said. "That doesn't mean they're the only people likely to be violent towards our people, but when you look at the data, that's what it tells you. "Ambulance services have introduced a range of measures to protect staff, including body-worn cameras and tougher action against offenders.