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NHS ambulance chiefs have warned that police are playing a “high-stakes game of chicken” over Home Office-backed plans to stop officers responding to mental health calls.
They said police across the country were no longer responding to mental health-related calls following the rollout of the new Right Care, Right Person initiative, leaving patients and emergency workers at risk.
The plan, which the Home Office announced will apply nationwide, will see police reduce, or in some cases stop, police calls regarding people with mental illness.
The model is based on a pilot launched between Humber Teaching NHS Trust and Humberside Police.Humberside approved independent person We are investigating four patient deaths in addition to the three patient deaths associated with Right Care Right person investigated last year. Three investigations carried out last year found no concerns about the initiative, the force said.
Ambulance service officers were involved in eight inquests where police used RCRP, and the Association of Chief Ambulance Officers said coroners had “expressed serious concerns about disparities in service provision regarding welfare calls”. said.
The Association of Chief Ambulance Officers, which represents all the chiefs of ambulance trusts in the country, said in a letter to Commons health committee chairman Steve Brine: Control room staff described feeling like they were taking part in a “high-stakes game of chicken” where police refused to take part and told them to hang up and redial 999 to call an ambulance. . ”
RCPC includes plans to end calls related to mental health needs and welfare checks
(PA wire)
In July 2023, the Home Office announced that police forces across the country will be able to use NHS trusts to deploy Right Care Right person. The Metropolitan Police Department began this initiative in November last year.
AACE says London’s emergency services currently receive between 200 and 250 calls a day that are forwarded to them by police.
The report said: “Nearly all of these people had a legitimate need for medical care and the NHS is better placed to respond than the police, but most of the patients did not require an emergency ambulance.” Ta.
Ambulance trust leaders have reported “excessive over-application” of Light Care Light Persons by some forces, with staff reporting 160 incidents involving RCRP as a key factor since March last year. 33 of them pose a threat of harm.
AACE is “concerned by reports from ambulance services that police failed to attend the scene despite calls for assistance, resulting in patients being subsequently harmed and ambulance medics being assaulted.” he warned.
They said these incidents would meet the RCRP criteria for police to be called. But police chiefs said there was an assumption in some instances that the ambulance service would “fill the capacity gap” created by a decline in mental health care visits.
Gemma Byrne, Policy and Campaigns Manager at Mind, said: “These reports from frontline emergency workers are extremely worrying. When someone is experiencing a mental health crisis, they need timely and effective care as soon as possible. In situations like this We understand that the police may not always be the best person to support someone, but keeping people safe is part of their fundamental job and this cannot be changed.Emergencies is an emergency.”
She said Mind was “deeply concerned” by the pace of the rollout of Right Care Right Person, as mental health services face “decades of underfunding”.
A government impact assessment for the rollout of Right Care Right Person has not yet been published.
Ambulance bosses told MPs there was no way to plan for additional demand on the service due to a lack of assessment, but the impact was likely to be “significant and not at a level that could be absorbed”. he warned.
The letter goes on to say, “I am saddened that significant systemic changes with such clear risks to some of society’s most vulnerable people have gained so much momentum when their impact is poorly understood. We are surprised,” he added.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “The National Partnership Agreement sets out the UK Government’s commitment to ensuring that people experiencing a mental health crisis receive the right response at the right time and from the right agency.
“Under this approach, individual plans are developed by health and social care partners and the police to ensure they reflect the needs of the community and the capacity of local police and mental health services.
