Hampshire Police Authority

Mental Health

The Constabulary has focused on a number of different work streams to pull together the complex and overlapping areas of mental health.  A work plan has been developed and is currently being progressed by the plan owners (Public Protection Dept, Criminal Justice, & Chief Constable’s office).  Progress against this work plan is overseen by the Deputy Chief Constable at the Strategic Fairness & Equality (Disability) meetings held quarterly.

The work streams mirror the recommendations made in the 2010 NPIA Guidance on Responding to People with to Mental Ill Health and Learning Disabilities and cover the following areas:

  • Training

  • S.136 (detentions in public places of mentally ill people)

  • S.135 (detentions in private premises of mentally ill people)

  • Investigation & evidence gathering

  • Missing People/AWOL patients

  • Transportation

  • Local interaction with Community Mental Health Teams

  • Information Sharing

  • Autism Awareness/Information Exchange

Training

After canvassing staff we were quickly able to identify that improving staff awareness of the signs and symptoms of mental illness would be a quick win for the organisation.  The main provider of Adult Mental Health Services for Hampshire was invited in to quality check our training products for both initial and continuation training.  As a direct result of this the package was updated and refreshed.  In addition we have used service users who suffer from mental illness to deliver bespoke training to our custody staff.  The Call Management Department have also recently developed a new package to ensure call takers are fully aware of some of the difficulties that can be experienced should someone with a mental illness need our assistance.

s.136 Detentions

s.136 of the Mental Health Act 1983 provides for police officers to detain somebody in need of ‘immediate care and control’ for the purposes of a mental health assessment.  The majority of detentions made by police are linked to very vulnerable individuals often connected to attempted suicides (or threats to take their own life).

Increased training has led to a significant reduction in the number of detentions being made, and established local arrangements with mental health providers are seeing a problem solving approach being adopted by those who are repeatedly detained.

The main NHS provider has opened 24/7 s.136 suites which should see a further reduction in the number of individuals coming to police stations for assessments (which has been condemned in a number of reports).  Assessments in mental health units are completed more quickly and in an environment which is more conducive to effective treatment and recovery than a police cell.

Over the last 12 months approximately 600 people have been detained under this section in our custody suites, this is down 300 from the previous 12 months.  

s.135 Detentions

A new protocol has been developed with Approved Mental Health Professionals across the force area which stipulates when police resources will and will not be used to assist in detention and removal from an individual’s home.  This new protocol is working well and ensures all parties carefully consider the risk posed by any individual prior to police deployment.

Investigation & evidence gathering

The approach our staff take when called to a report of a crime by someone suffering from mental ill health is being reviewed.  At times it is recognised that the Criminal Justice System does not deal as robustly as possible in all occasions with offenders who suffer from mental ill health as it could.  At a strategic level discussions and progress has already been made between police, the CPS and the NHS.  Joint training events have been held and the work plan will develop this further.

Missing People/AWOL patients

Again the Constabulary is reviewing our approach to dealing with individuals who are reported as missing from various mental health institutions.  We are looking to mirror effective multi agency protocols recently agreed with Children’s homes across the force area.  This will hopefully lead to a more risk based assessment and deployment of resources to each report, with Trusts and care homes taking greater responsibility for their patients.

Transportation

The Constabulary is currently engaging with the NHS and Ambulance Service at a strategic level to ensure that individuals who are detained under the Mental Health Act are conveyed to appropriate premises by appropriately trained and equipped staff (not police officers in police vehicles).

Local Interaction with Community Mental Health Teams (CMHTs)

There is little doubt that the best partnership work stems from established, trusted, and local interaction between agencies.  In some areas of the force the local policing teams are engaged well with CMHTs, in other areas not so.  Work is on going to ensure this best practice is promulgated throughout the organisation.  The appointment of Disability Champions in each police Area should facilitate this.

Information Sharing

A new information sharing protocol has recently been signed by leaders of all main mental health agencies.  This encompasses easy to read flowcharts and is designed to assist staff out of hours.  A pocket sized guide to accompany this is being developed currently. Similar work with the acute hospitals is required and again the constabulary is engaged with the NHS to develop this.

Autism Awareness

The Constabulary has an excellent working relationship with the Hampshire Autistic Society (HAS).

The HAS have trained some of our staff and continue to provide free, expert and independent advice and guidance on a case by case basis to our staff.

The Autism Alert Card has been successfully rolled out across all emergency services in Hampshire and a recent review by the Police Authority has provided positive feedback on its use.

An ‘Autism Passport’ has recently been developed which uses Constabulary software to allow information to be recorded (with service users permission) from all Criminal Justice and approved partners in one place.  This project recently received a National award for innovation in the public sector.