A groundbreaking mental health ambulance trialled in Fife saved 400 hours of police time in its first nine months.
The fully-equipped triage car staffed by a paramedic and a mental health nurse launched in Levenmouth last June.
And it was so successful, it extended to Kirkcaldy in September.
It will now continue for at least another three months and could eventually become a long-term project across Fife.
The approach was suggested amid police concerns that 80% of calls were mental health related.
Officers often spent several hours in A&E at Victoria Hospital, in Kirkcaldy, with distressed members of the public.
However, the mental health ambulance offers quick treatment to those in despair while freeing up police to deal with crime.
400 hours of police time saved
The Fife mental health ambulance operates from 8pm to 6am, Fridays to Sundays.
Calls come through the ambulance service and the car responds as needed.
New figures show it received 181 calls between June and January.
Of those, 127 were mental health related.
Levenmouth Police Inspector Matt Spencer said the trial had benefited many people in distress, as well as police, the ambulance service and NHS 24..
Mr Spencer added: “We have been able to identify that on average four hours per officer per call are saved.
“This equates to 400 hours of officer time returned, allowing them to be back in their communities.
“This is on top of the time saved to the Scottish Ambulance Service, emergency department and others.”
Mental health ambulance could extend to other areas
A year’s data will be analysed in June to ascertain the full benefit of the mental health ambulance.
It will also determine if there is capacity to extend it to other areas of Fife.
Christopher Conroy, from NHS Fife, said: “Levenmouth should be pretty proud of what they’ve got.
“It’s important we don’t lose what’s been a significant project.
“The extension until June will allow us to evaluate the impact and whether it makes a difference, both to patients and to services.”
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