Mental health ‘triage teams’ to cut numbers sectioned

Officers in Scarborough who think an individual has a mental health illness can now call in the expertise of a “street triage” team from the town’s Cross Lane Hospital, rather than having no option but to lock them up.

It follows a successful pilot
in the Cleveland area which
drastically cut the number
of people unnecessarily sectioned.

Chief Constable Dave Jones said: “It is vital that people with mental health issues receive the most appropriate care when they need it.

“Police officers are regularly called to incidents involving people who are in need of care and support, but often have no option other than to take them into police custody for their own and other people’s safety.

“The street triage project means that they will receive immediate and appropriate help on the spot.

“The project should see a big reduction in the demand for police, ambulance and hospital accident and emergency departments.”

In the year after the scheme was introduced in Cleveland a dozen people were sectioned (3.2 per cent) when nurses were available - compared with more than 200 when they weren’t.

The triage team found that 129 of 371 people, who were assessed were known to have drug or alcohol problems and 134 were already known to mental health services. More than half didn’t have a significant mental disorder.

Police and Crime Commissioner Julia Mulligan said: “Street triage is a really positive stride forward. It will bring essential support services to particularly vulnerable people when they most need them. If successful, this pilot has the potential to prevent mental health crises and drastically reduce the number of people detained under the Mental Health Act.”