‘Safe spaces’ call as mental health crisis consumes police

Health experts warn the ‘back of a police car’ is not the right place for someone in mental health distress

By 1919 staff

‘Safe spaces’ call as mental health crisis consumes police

Health experts warn the ‘back of a police car’ is not the right place for someone in mental health distress

By 1919 staff

Scotland’s mental health crisis is the “single biggest inhibitor” preventing officers from tackling crime, MSPs have been told.

The demand placed on the force is also impacting officer recruitment, with the Scottish Police Federation (SPF) sharing feedback that people do not join Police Scotland to “sit in A&E wards”.

Calls have been amplified for more ‘safe spaces’ so that vulnerable people get specialist mental health support, while at the same time reducing emergency department waiting times and enabling officers to get back on the beat.

The Scottish Government is scoping out options.

Safe spaces can already be found in some parts of Scotland and several English cities, such as The Cellar Trust near Bradford which provides urgent, same day support for people experiencing a mental health crisis, or The Crisis Pad in Hull.

Dr Inga Heyman, a registered mental health nurse and associate professor at Edinburgh Napier University, said additional spaces are a “pressing consideration”.

In evidence to Holyrood’s criminal justice committee, she wrote: “Unscheduled care provision for people who do not require care within an ED (emergency department) setting, but do require support or monitoring to ensure their immediate safety, places significant demand on police and ED services.

“This gap in service can see people oscillate between police and health services, and challenge [the] safe and appropriate transfer of care.”

In oral evidence to MSPs, she addressed the issue of intoxicated people who are in mental health distress.

“Sitting in the back of a police car or an accident and emergency department is not necessarily the right place or environment for people who are intoxicated, so we need to consider potential opportunities for dealing with such situations in a different way,” she said.

Dr Robby Steel, a consultant psychiatrist in the NHS, added: “Most of the time, the so-called mental health emergencies that the police are dealing with actually involve people who are unable to regulate their emotions in that moment.

“The police bring them to a branch of the secondary care mental health service, where the staff ask a completely different question. They ask ‘is this person suffering from mental illness’?

“About 20 per cent of the people who are brought in are. The other 80 per cent are not, and that is the gap that I think people are falling through.”

He continued: “We should have front-door services for the police to bring people to that are staffed, equipped and designed to deal with both groups.”

In a letter to MSPs, shared with 1919, SPF chair David Threadgold said a ‘right care, right person’ approach, as adopted in other areas of the UK, “may eventually be required if we are to see meaningful change and capacity creation for policing in Scotland”.

“It is our view that this area of business is the single biggest inhibitor in operational officers across Scotland being able to carry out their core function to deliver basic policing services across our communities,” he wrote.

Threadgold added: “To be absolutely clear, officers are not trying to avoid dealing with members of the public who need an immediate intervention, but tell us that the ‘handover’ from the police to the most appropriate service is at best delayed, at worst non-existent…”

“There is also a significant anecdotal evidence base through internal SPF surveys, media reporting, and engagement with officers, that they did not join the police to ‘sit in A&E wards’ and that is having a direct impact on our ability to recruit, and more importantly retain police officers in service.”

“We are finding ourselves in the position of responding to people who are in mental health distress and crisis, and we are not best placed to do that”

Assistant Chief Constable Catriona Paton

Assistant Chief Constable Catriona Paton told MSPs: “From my experience of dealing with people in mental health distress and crisis, I know that it is not law and order that they need; it is people with time, skill and compassion who can give support.

“However… we are finding ourselves in the position of responding to people who are in mental health distress and crisis, and we are not best placed to do that.”

But MSPs were warned that creating safe spaces would involve both commitment from multiple agencies and resources.

Last year, the Scottish Government published a ‘scoping report’ on safe spaces.

It stated: “Safe spaces should not replace clinical mental health interventions, but rather help people navigate the mental health system, connect them to local services, and encourage people to develop self-management skills to maintain their mental health and wellbeing.”

Updating MSPs, Justice Secretary Angela Constance said: “Safe places can be crucial in preventing an escalation of matters…

“Colleagues in government, in particular those working in mental health, are considering the next steps. Part of meeting the collaboration commitments will be to consider what is next, following the scoping work.

“We can perhaps look at a toolkit that supports local development. It is fair to say that there is still a fair amount of work to be done in the area.”