03.12.14
More mental health teams to be based at police stations
NHS England is to launch a further 13 trial schemes placing mental health professionals in police stations and courts from April 2015.
The new Liaison & Diversion (L&D) schemes will join the existing 10 that have been taking part in a two-year trial that began in April this year, to join up police and courts with mental health services.
These schemes aim to ensure people who come into the criminal justice system with mental health conditions, learning disabilities and other vulnerabilities are recognised and are promptly referred into health and other services to get the treatment or support they need.
The 13 additional trials will be:
- Northamptonshire Criminal Justice Team whole of Northamptonshire
- South Yorkshire Liaison & Diversion Service – whole of South Yorkshire
- Peninsula Criminal Justice Liaison & Diversion Service (Courts & Custody) – whole of Devon and Cornwall
- Avon and Somerset Court/Custody Assessment & Advice Service – Extending to the whole of Somerset
- Lancashire Care Liaison and Diversion Scheme whole of Lancashire
- Black Country Liaison and Diversion Service – Sandwell, Dudley, Walsall and Wolverhampton
- Hampshire Criminal Justice Liaison Diversion Service – Portsmouth, Southampton and South West Hampshire
- Thames Valley Liaison and Diversion Service – although this only covers Oxfordshire
- Surrey Criminal Justice and Liaison Diversion Service – whole of Surrey
- Police Custody Liaison and Court Diversion Service– whole of Kent and Medway
- West, North West and Central London Police & Court Liaison and Diversion Service
- Norfolk and Suffolk Liaison and Diversion Service – whole of Norfolk and Suffolk
- Nottinghamshire Criminal Justice Liaison Service – whole of Nottinghamshire
Kate Davies OBE, national director for health and justice, armed forces and public health at NHS England, said: “Extending the L&D scheme to 13 more areas in England is a major step in getting more people who find themselves in the criminal justice system the help they need with mental health problems often at a time of crisis.
“This will be crucial for their long-term health and wellbeing as well as reducing re-offending and saving lives.”
According to NHS England figures, the new model has already seen more than 8,400 children, young people and adults come through the service while going through the justice process.
When the 13 new schemes go live it will mean half of the English population will be covered by such schemes. The model will then be independently evaluated to inform a business case for services to cover all of the English population by 2017-18.
Health minister Norman Lamb said: “I want to build a fairer society where vulnerable people get the care they need. L&D is an excellent example of different organisations working together to turn lives around and I’m delighted that this work is expanding. No other country in the world is doing this on the scale that we are pursuing. It is a really exciting programme.”
The original 10 trials, commissioned by NHS England, were part of a £25m scheme designed to place more mental health nurses and other mental health professionals in police stations and courts so that people with mental health and substance misuse problems get the right treatment as quickly as possible.
Policing minister Mike Penning said: “Improving the way people with mental health problems are treated by police is a priority for this government. Police officers should not have to be called to provide medical treatment for those suffering a crisis. Their role is to cut crime, and health professionals are best placed to give those that need it the proper health care and support.
“L&D plays a vital role in ensuring people with mental health problems receive the most appropriate support when they come into contact with the police – under the scheme over 8,000 people have already been treated by a mental health professional.”
The current edition of NHE includes details of the successful ‘triage car’ in Leicestershire, which sees mental health practitioners accompanying police to incidents. The triage car, which began operating last year, now deals with about 120 incidents a month, with only about 4% of people having to be taken to custody, and it has also saved both the NHS and police service thousands of pounds a month by reducing unnecessary time spent on bureaucracy and duplication. Leicestershire also found that 20% of cases the police dealt with had a mental health factor – but those people weren’t known to the mental health services. It has been picked as a case study of best practice by the new Centre of Excellence for Information Sharing.
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