AN INITIATIVE which teams up police officers and mental health workers “saved the life” of one Abingdon woman.

The street triage project, which started in December 2013, means there are more resources every evening between 6pm and 2am to help people who call the police feeling desperate.

One woman said the team stopped her from committing suicide in November.

She said: “I have depression and panic attacks and my 19-year-old son is autistic which can be a nightmare.

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“One day I came home from work and suddenly a feeling that went through me. I exploded, I wanted to end it all.

“All I thought about was taking a whole load of tablets.

“I was getting really, really anxious even though I’d taken my anti-anxiety medication – it was terrifying.”

The 45-year-old pressed the panic alarm that had been given to her by doctors, calling the police to her address.

She said: “They rang the street triage team and I spoke to a mental health worker called Cathy. She immediately made me feel listened to and calm. A weight was lifted off my shoulders. They definitely helped. They didn’t judge me.”

She explained she was found a place in a psychiatric unit: “When I met Cathy I told her, ‘You saved my life’. I really feel that withouth what she did I don’t know where I would be.”

The charity worker was one of 796 people helped by the street triage team, which attended 1,039 incidents in the scheme’s first year.

There was a drop of 90 people – from 258 in 2013 to 266 last year – being sent to an NHS “place of safety” as the street triage team arranged more appropriate care.

And those sent to police cells – when NHS facilities are not available – fell from from 109 in 2013 to 30.

The project, run jointly by Thames Valley Police and Oxford Health NHS Foundation, has been funded by the Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group for another year.

Thames Valley Police Assistant Chief Constable Alan Baldwin said: “The team has made a significant impact by putting the needs of the person at the heart of the service, proving that by working in partnership we can find more appropriate pathways for those in crisis.

“Recognising this, I am committed to developing our Street Triage partnership in Oxfordshire.”

Dr Rob Bale, clinical director for adult mental health services at the trust, added: “The project is an excellent example of effective partnership working between police and the NHS that means more people are getting appropriate mental health support at the earliest opportunity.”