Lack of nurses to replace police in mental health call-outs, warn leaders

They said that new plans, which aim to give back the responsibility of mental health call-outs to health and care staff, have not taken into consideration the workforce crisis across mental health services.

It comes as on 26 July a national partnership agreement was signed by government departments, the National Police Chiefs’ Council, Association of Police and Crime Commissioners, and NHS England, which intends to end the “inappropriate and avoidable” involvement of police in responding to incidents involving people with mental health needs.

“It makes little sense to rush changes through before ensuring vulnerable people aren’t left in a worse situation and health teams stretched even thinner"

Sara Gorton

Under the Right Care, Right Person approach, police will stop attending most mental health incidents unless there is a significant safety risk or a crime being committed, and instead triage to the relevant health and care services.

In addition, the approach aims to cut the time that patients who are detained under the Mental Health Act must wait with police officers before receiving medical care, from 12 hours to a one-hour window.

It comes as some police forces in England and Wales are currently attending as much as 80% of mental health-related 999 calls. Under the new plans ministers want this to decrease to as low as 20%.

It is estimated that this approach could save around one million police officer hours each year.

However, health leaders and charities have warned that these plans have not considered the extreme workforce shortages facing the health and care sector.

Dave Munday, lead professional officer for mental health at the union Unite, said: “Whilst the police may not always be the best people to respond to a mental health crisis, the decision to cut one million officer hours of support, to what is already a marginalised and disadvantaged group, without any plans to increase the availability of support elsewhere should cause us extreme concern.”

Dave Munday

Mr Munday, who has a background in nursing, told Nursing Times that if local police stop intervening with mental health call-outs, it does not mean “other services will suddenly appear”.

He said this was well-evidenced in the recently published NHS workforce plan, which highlighted that it would take several years to adequately resources mental health services.

Mr Munday added: “Yet again, people with a mental health illness are caught in the middle in a society that has deprioritised their needs due to austerity cuts that have taken away the health, social and policing support that they should be able to rely upon and at times so desperately need.”

Also responding to the announcement, Unison head of health, Sara Gorton, warned that mental health services were “under pressure like never before”.

She said: “Any changes must be carefully planned and funded so those in need can access the vital help they need.

“Without proper investment, workload pressures and stresses will get even worse for health staff.

Sara Gorton

“It makes little sense to rush changes through before ensuring vulnerable people aren’t left in a worse situation and health teams stretched even thinner.”

Meanwhile the founder and chief executive of the mental health charity, SANE, Majorie Wallace, said: “While we understand the frustration of the police in substituting for mental health services, we fear for the many individuals and families for whom they are the only ones to respond when they feel they are reaching crisis point.

“We answer many distressed callers who have tried to contact their crisis lines, only to find there is no reply, that they are answered by untrained co-ordinators who tell them, as they report, to ‘take a walk’ or ‘have a shower’, belittling the anguish they feel.”

Ms Wallace added that the charity “cannot cope with the demand and need” while there wee so few crisis beds available and while psychiatric services were “in breakdown”.

“These people are also at risk, and without the police may have nowhere to turn,” she said.

The Right Care, Right Person approach is based on a model developed by Humberside Police in 2021 which has also been implemented by other forces including Lancashire Police, South Yorkshire Police and North Yorkshire Police.

Police forces nationally are now set to begin implementing the plan on a local level by working with partners in their area, including health and care services.

The Association of Police and Crime Commissioners’ mental health lead, Lisa Townsend, said: “For too long, we have seen the police step up to respond to non-emergency mental health calls, often spending long periods of time with people when what they really need is specialist medical support.

“The police are not medical professionals, and we should not expect them to be.

“This is why we have launched this new partnership agreement.”

Ms Townsend added that police and crime commissioners would work closely with cross-government colleagues, police and health and social care partners “to ensure vulnerable people receive the necessary support” while also freeing up police resources to tackle crime.