London Ambulance Service is deploying specialist paramedics trained in mental health to respond to patients in crisis across the capital.

The new clinicians have received advanced training in partnership with St George’s, University of London in Tooting.

They will attend complex cases in the home to hopefully reduce unnecessary hospital visits.

The move comes as mental health-related 999 calls in London have almost doubled in three years, with over 99,000 attended last year.