Police sign Right Care Right Person agreement

A national partnership agreement will see all police forces across England and Wales begin to adopt a new approach to dealing with health incidents where policing is not always the best agency to respond.

The initiative has already been adopted by West Mercia Police and since its launch in April this year calls to police have been triaged to ensure health incidents are dealt with by the most appropriate agency.

Assistant Chief Constable Rachel Jones said: “Police officers and staff are inherently caring people and therefore want to do the very best they can to help people in our communities, particularly those who are most vulnerable.

“When we are called about issues that do not require police intervention it is our natural response to want to help.

“However, we know that police are quite often not the right people to provide the required support.

“Police attendance can have a detrimental impact on the individual, for example they may feel they are being criminalised due to their health or social care issues and could lead to a delay in the appropriate care being initiated.

“In most cases the individual would be much better served by an appropriate professional who has the right skills, training, and experience.

“Since its launch in April our approach has put the public first and the individual at the very heart of our decision to ensure the most appropriate agency responds.

“We know this means changes for the public and some of our partners; many of whom have become used to police attending or responding in certain situations.

“Over the past year, we have worked with colleagues from the NHS, our local authorities, and West Midlands Ambulance Services, amongst others, to work in partnership to address the most appropriate care pathways for those who need health, social care or other assistance where there is no policing requirement.

“I want to offer my assurances that our commitment to protecting those who are most vulnerable in our communities will not change.

“Calls from members of the public raising concern for the welfare of an individual will continue to be considered and assessed by our control room to see if the police are the right people to provide the right care. Even where the police may not be best placed to care for someone, if there is an immediate threat to life we will still attend to prevent harm to the public.”