Social workers respond to Met police withdrawal from mental health calls

Officers should still attend in "situations where there is no other appropriate agency" says AMHP Leads Network

Published by PSW magazine, 9 June 2023

The Metropolitan Police Service's decision to stop attending emergency mental health incidents by the end of August has sparked fierce debate in social work and mental health circles.

Described as “potentially alarming” by former inspector of constabulary Zoe Billingham, campaigners, social workers and charities have also been voicing their concerns.

The Met says the move will ease pressure on the force, which it believes is spending too much time attending mental health calls. It claims police are turning into first responders in the absence of adequate NHS and social services.

Met police commissioner Sir Mark Rowley wrote to services in Greater London to inform them of the plan at the end of May.

In the letter, he claimed it takes 23 hours from a person being detained under the Mental Health Act to them being handed over to medical care.

He said 10,000 hours a month are being spent by officers attending “what is principally a health matter”, adding that police and other social services are “collectively failing patients” by not providing appropriate help.

And he backed the national rollout of the ‘right care right person’ (RCRP) strategy which sees officers responding to mental health calls only where there is an immediate risk to life.

But while supporting the RCRP in principle, the AMHP Leads network – which provides advice and support to approved mental health professionals across England and Wales - said it is “concerned at the speed in which the Met is unilaterally intending to act”.

Warning that there could be widespread misinterpretation of when it is still appropriate for the police to attend, the AMHP Leads Network stated: “Police time needs to be free to continue to attend mental health related incidents in situations where there is no other appropriate agency: such as the application of s136 (emergency powers), warrants issued under s135, and support in situations where there is significant risk of harm."

The network claims information from members shows there could be a risk of misinterpretation of the policy leading to:

  • the exclusion of people with protected characteristics under the Equalities Act 
  • police support being needed but not provided in situations where relevant organisations are already present 
  • call agents declining to send police officers due to poor knowledge 

The network added: “We recognise that the impact on police time is usually a result of delays in access to health-based resources, and we are keen to support any efforts to improve this [as] often these same delays impact on AMHP services and the individuals we aim to support.

“We are keen to work in partnership to identify ways in which things can be improved for all services working in mental health crisis situations – the vast majority of which are not attended by the police.”

Brian Dow, deputy chief executive of Rethink Mental Illness, said police forces are “not best suited” to deal with people in mental health crises.

He added: “But it is not appropriate that the Metropolitan Police has simply imposed an artificial deadline and threatened to walk away, with the risk that people in crisis are left in limbo between two struggling public services.

“Individuals in mental health crisis need urgent access to the right kind of treatment and support to help them through the emergency, and on occasion this will involve the police when they pose a risk to themselves or others.

“The solution lies in the police, mental health services, the voluntary sector and the government getting around the table and figuring out the answer, with the government addressing the very significant funding gap that exists.”

The National Survivor User Network maintains that the police should not be involved in the response to mental health emergencies at all: “We know that police involvement in mental health emergencies can result in criminalisation, punishment and deaths. The system is not fit for purpose, and police involvement and its punitive or fatal consequences are a symptom of a deeply cruel and broken system. 

“The police are not the appropriate agency to respond to people in crisis, but we do not think that health and social care services will be able to introduce plans to fill the gaps left by the police by the 31st of August.

“Three months is not enough time to properly plan and implement a system that will protect people from harm and provide the best possible care for those in crisis. In the long term, we believe that police absence from mental health emergency responses would prevent harm, but withdrawing emergency response capacity without well thought-out systems and alternatives in place is also counterproductive.”