Derbyshire Police and Crime Commissioner Angelique Foster has visited the new mental health ‘Street Triage’ service she has funded to increase the amount of time officers spend fighting crime.
The new service is reducing the demand for police assistance in instances of mental health crisis enabling them to get back to frontline duties more swiftly.
The new scheme sees police officers deployed to incidents alongside trained Community Psychiatric Nurses (CPN) to provide people experiencing mental health issues with immediate care to keep them safe.
The move reduces the time officers spend tackling non-crime related incidents while ensuring that people receive appropriate medical attention as quickly as possible.
It follows a successful ‘co-response’ pilot in Derbyshire last summer which deployed a police officer and CPN to mental-health related incidents for a month to assess the model’s effectiveness.
Between August and December 2022, working with partners such as Mental Health and the Ambulance services to ensure that the appropriate agency was involved from the outset, the Constabulary saved 3,528 hours of officer time.
Driving Efficiencies is a key priority in the Commissioner’s Police and Crime Plan and she is committed to undertake strong partnership work with blue light colleagues and partners to deliver efficiencies in service.
Police and Crime Commissioner Angelique Foster said: “This Street Triage significantly reduces the amount of time officers spend dealing with incidents that are not related to criminality. It aims to release officers quicker to let them return to tackling crime and disorder in our communities. The fact that we have been able to save such a significant number of hours in officer time is proof that driving efficiencies in this area is crucial.
“The launch of the Street Triage Service ensures that officers have the benefit of trained and experienced mental health nurses on-site to resolve incidents immediately and in the most appropriate way.
“As Commissioner, I have promised to deliver strong local policing. I have made it clear that I expect police officers to work effectively and efficiently in our communities to carry out their primary job of fighting crime. The addition of a co-response team will help free up valuable police time and enable the force to better balance its ever-growing demands.”
The force, supported by the Commissioner, is dedicating four officers to the Street Triage Service 365-days-a-year while NHS health partners have committed to providing CPNs for each shift.
The Street Triage Cars operate from 4pm until midnight seven days a week with one car allocated to each division during the shift. The team’s remit will be to attend mental health-related incidents to provide on-scene assessments and diversion to the most appropriate care pathway including crisis alternatives to hospital. This sees people with mental health problems who come into contact with police receiving the right assessment and care at the earliest opportunity.
Between two and five per cent of all calls to Derbyshire Police have a mental health element. This has increased pressure on the force when, in many cases, the police are not the most appropriate agency to be leading the response.
Commissioner Angelique Foster has been working with the NHS Mental Health Service for some time and has also provided funding for a 24-7 Mental Health Helpline across Derbyshire, which is led by the NHS.
The facility provides officers with a dedicated number to call when attending incidents where individuals are in mental health crisis or where there are concerns around mental ill health. This allows them to speak to a mental health clinician who can provide advice and guidance to help the officer at the scene.
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