Ministers should order police forces in England to keep attending mental health calls until more funding is in place for the NHS to plug the gap or risk further deaths, a charity is urging.
Rethink Mental Illness has written to the home and health secretaries asking them to immediately pause the right-care-right-person scheme, which allows police forces to step back from responding to mental health callouts, after “a series of tragic deaths” associated with the change.
The goal of the scheme is to stop officers being diverted from dealing with crime to do work for which health staff are better trained, yet Rethink says that health and social care services need an additional £260m in funding to plug the gap left by the police, as well as clear lines of oversight and accountability.
Mark Winstanley, the chief executive of Rethink Mental Illness, said: “A mental health crisis is an emergency, and plans drawn up on paper have to work effectively in someone’s hour of need. Every second counts in a mental health crisis, and so it’s vital that the process works smoothly and that the most appropriate, trained professional can be quickly on the scene to reduce any risk to life.
“We’re all in agreement that in most cases, the police are not the best agency to support people in severe mental distress. And we believe the Right Care Right Person scheme has a future, provided it is rolled out carefully.
“But monitoring the initial impact, we’re growing increasingly concerned that forces have stepped back too quickly, without the proper checks and balances in place alongside the resources needed to plug the gap.”
Anecdotally, Rethink, which works with sufferers of severe mental illness, is hearing concerns from the people it supports about how calls are assessed and the varied rates and quality of local implementation.
Earlier this month, Norfolk police suspended the launch of the scheme following the death of four family members. Ambulance chiefs recently issued a warning that patients and paramedics have come to harm, while coroners have cited the scheme in prevention of future deaths reports.
A government spokesperson said: “The Right Care, Right Person approach ensures that people who have health or social care needs are responded to by the right person, with the right skills, training, and experience to meet their needs. When a crime needs to be investigated or there is a need to protect people from a real and immediate risk of harm, police officers will continue to attend.
“Police forces are working closely with local health and social care partners to ensure that this new approach is rolled out when it is safe to do so. Forces are also supported by a dedicated team from the National Police Chiefs’ Council and a comprehensive guidance toolkit.”