The police were called to deal with problems caused by people with psychiatric problems 52,000 times last year, an increase of 30% on 2011, according to the AD.

The increase is due to the rise in people being cared for in the community rather than in institutions, the AD says. ‘Care in the community is not always actually there,’ Amsterdam police chief Pieter-Jaap Aalbersberg told the paper.

The number of crisis situations in the capital involving emergency institutionalisation has risen steadily and reached 1,800 last year, the police chief said.

Medicine

‘I know of some community police officers who spend 50% to 60% of their time dealing with confused people,’ he said. ‘But if someone starts drilling in the middle of the night because they have not taken their medicine, there is no point sending round a police officer.’

Local health boards admit there are problems and say councils, housing corporations and health insurance companies should work more closely to minimise the problems.

‘We know that nothing has been organised in some areas or that the health services are slow to react,’ said Mirjam Drost of the national GGZ platform, which represents patients’ interests. ‘Things have to be properly organised if someone with health issues moves into a community.’