‘Right Care, Right Person’ is a national policing strategy coming into force in Surrey on 11 March 2024.
From this date, police officers will only attend emergency calls if a crime is being committed, or if there is a risk to life or imminent serious harm.
The police emergency call handlers will assess whether it is appropriate for them to attend the emergency. Where there is no risk to life or imminent harm, they will consider the emergency a matter for a health agency to respond to, and they will not attend.
The wider non-statutory sector was informed of the new policy in mid-February. Formal communication from the police about the new arrangements is expected to go to partners and citizens shortly.
To prepare for this change:
· Review your mental health support pathway for the people you support.
· Make sure staff know how to communicate clearly to the police when there is a risk to life/serious imminent harm.
· Inform staff, trustees, and the people you serve of the change.
· Assess how you approach and respond to managing crisis, particularly around who to contact when keeping staff and people safe.
· Review your on-call arrangements.
· Assess what support is available in your community, such as
Safe Havens.
· Identify a place of safety that you can take or refer people to for assessment and crisis support, including A&E departments, or the SABP Community Mental Health Team.
· The Fire and Rescue service have been suggested as the agency to call if you need to access a building to carry out a serious concern check.
There will be an escalation process to follow if you feel that the response by statutory services is putting people in danger, and we will keep you updated on this process.
SCA are concerned that the mental health services are not ready to step fully into the gap being created by Right Care, Right Person.
Source: https://www.surreycare.org.uk/about-sca
Contact us: https://premiumlinehcs.co.uk/about-us/
