The Christian founder of a mental health charity has called churches to step up in supporting mental health strugglers.
It comes as the Metropolitan Police say they will no longer attend emergency calls related to mental health where a medical professional would be better suited.
The force will only intervene where there is a danger to life. It won't look for people who've walked out of hospitals, or attend welfare checks where a patient's skipped medication.
Right Care, Right Person' is a new NHS initiative which bosses say it will allow officers to focus on fighting crime.
Founder of the mental health charity Kintsugi Hope, Patrick Regan says he's cautiously optimistic about the new plans, which he hopes will mean vulnerable people will get better support quicker.
"I think everyone recognises that people are more needing more sort of pastoral support than being cuffed and taken to a&e. And so there's going to be details that need to be worked out. I'm a little bit scared how fast it's moving already the first of November, and I know some charities are going hang on a minute, we need to do this right.
"But I think in principle, you know, I saw newspapers today that eight in ten people sectioned in London would benefit more from community support than a hospital admission.
"But as usual, it's crisis management, which we're talking about. And I guess that many of us in the voluntary sector have been crying out for longer, more sort of prevention strategy for many years now."
Regan says that churches can make a genuine impact on the issue by hosting crisis cafes where there are trained professionals are available. He told Premier he's seen successful trialling in Lincoln.
"If the church exists for anything, surely it is to create safe and supportive spaces. So why can't we have cafes and churches all across the UK, as long as people are trained, as long as people are committed? If there's safeguarding in place, it could be a really amazing opportunity to provide people with real care, and I'm glad people starting to think preventative. I think the key thing is strategies that creates good mental health, as well as treating mental ill health. I think that's what we're crying out for that we need to think both and and that's what I'm longing for in the government to do much more of."
Regan, who's new book Brighter Days aims to equip Christian readers with tool strengthen wellbeing. He says the church could do with offering greater clarity when it comes to pastorally supporting mental health.
"I really want to pray that the church would really sort of rise up and be part of the solution. I feel like, you know, with food bank, and cat and street pastors, we've done such an amazing job in so many areas. But when it comes to the area of mental health, I think in terms of our theology, sometimes it's been quite confused. And I think we need a robust theology of mental health, but I feel like Come on church, we could do so much to provide people with the support that they need at the moment."
