The case of a teenage girl with mental health issues held in police custody for almost two days because no NHS beds were available is "abhorrent", a senior MP has told Sky News.
Dr Sarah Wollaston, who chairs the Commons Health Select Committee, was speaking after a 16-year-old was found a bed only when a senior police officer lashed out publicly at the "unacceptable" scenario.
The MP for Totnes told Sky's Murnaghan programme: "We know that last year there were 30 children in Devon and Cornwall who unfortunately spent a night in a police cell for no reason other than the fact they were experiencing a mental health crisis.
"Clearly it is unacceptable if it happens to anybody, adult or child, but particularly abhorrent that it happens to children."
Dr Wollaston, a former family doctor, said she wanted such an occurrence to be made a "never event".
These are serious, largely preventable, incidents, such as operating on the wrong part of the body, that should not occur if the correct procedures are followed.
"It's absolutely the wrong place for anyone to be in a police cell when they are in a mental health crisis," Dr Wollaston added.
"We would find it utterly unacceptable if this was a physical condition and we should feel the same about a mental health condition."
Devon and Cornwall Police Assistant Chief Constable Paul Netherton told Sky News on Saturday: "I was very concerned because we shouldn't be put in a position where we have a 16-year-old schoolgirl kept in custody now for three days because there is no place where we can house her safely.
"A police station and a custody block on a Friday and Saturday night is simply not a place where a young child should be placed.
"We wouldn't put a criminal in custody for that long and we certainly don't want to put someone who is suffering from mental health issues in a custody block for that length of time."
Mental health charities have condemned the handling of the vulnerable teenager.
Paul Farmer, chief executive of the mental health charity Mind, said: "This is a terrible and shameful situation.
"Being in mental health crisis can be terrifying and life threatening, and people need urgent care from mental health services."
He added: "This whole episode shows how thinly spread NHS mental health services are."
Lucie Russell, director of campaigns at YoungMinds, said it should not be the responsibility of police to look after the teenager.
"It is both shocking and totally inappropriate that a 16-year-old child has to spend two days in a police cell as she goes through a serious mental health crisis," she said.
She added: "This girl will look back on the crisis she experienced and remember living through it in police custody."
NHS England said: "After details were provided to NHS England about the girl and her condition a place was found locally within a few hours. We are grateful for the help of the NHS in the area in identifying the place."
The organisation added: "It is worth noting that mental health crisis services have been expanding so that the number of people ending up in police cells is in fact down - but clearly more needs to be done."
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