Police have told Ross and John they’re fed up babysitting drug-affected patients.

By law, police are required to stay with patients until they are assessed by medical experts, which in some cases means police are spending entire shifts minding drug-affected mental health patients.

The state government says it’s investing in programs to address drug and alcohol issues.

But police union secretary Ron Iddles told 3AW Breakfast there’s a chronic shortage of police and hospital personnel.

‘It is about limited resources,’ he said.

‘It’s about limited police numbers but it’s also about … not sufficient psychiatrists, or the hospitals not calling them back in after-hours.’

Click play for the full discussion with Ross and John