Right care, right person scheme begins

A scheme which aims to ensure people needing support for mental health, medical or social care issues are dealt with by the right agency has begun.

Right Care, Right Person (RCRP), a national initiative, developed in collaboration with health and social care partners, aims to ensure mental health, medical or social care issues are dealt with by someone with the right skills, training and experience.

The introduction of the first phase of the new policy will change how police respond to “concern for welfare” incidents. These incidents are made directly or indirectly to the police in the expectation officers will assume responsibility for the person involved.

Police will continue to attend where there is an immediate risk to someone’s life. Calls will be triaged, and will now be redirected to more appropriate agencies who have the skills, and training to provide the best care from the outset.

The intention of RCRP is to ensure an improved response to some of the most vulnerable people in our community. Whilst there will always be a role for policing in responding to certain concern for welfare calls, police are often not the most suitable resource to attend.

By ensuring the best response is delivered by the right agency, we can reduce demand on officers, freeing up police resources to tackle crime, support victims and protect the public.

In recent years, police officers have often been required to offer support to those who require specialist medical or psychological care.

The care will now be provided by the agency which can best meet the individual’s needs.

The model will work alongside existing schemes including the mental health response cars which sees police officers and mental health specialists working together in two dedicated vehicles.

Similar schemes have already been successfully adopted by forces in Humberside, Lincolnshire and Hampshire.

Assistant Chief Constable Vicki Evans said: “Protecting the vulnerable and keeping people safe is at the heart of everything we do. Our officers will always do their best to support vulnerable people, however, all too often, police officers are dealing with situations they are not trained to deal with. Other agencies are better equipped to ensure people are given the support they need.

“This includes people being in mental health crisis, who need the help and support of professionals and not the skills of a police officer.  

“We are delivering RCRP in phases over the next year. This will allow our officers and partners to gradually adapt to the changes and not overload any particular agency.

“We want to ensure vulnerable people receive the necessary support, while freeing up police resources to tackle crime and deliver safer communities for the public.” 

Stacie Coburn, Executive Director of Performance and Assurance at NHS Cambridgeshire & Peterborough, part of the Integrated Care System, said:

"The safety and wellbeing of people who need mental health support or social care is our absolute priority.

"That's why we're working with partners across Cambridgeshire & Peterborough to ensure people get seen by the health or care team that will be best placed to help them, for example through our partnership scheme which sees specialist mental health staff travel alongside police when they attend someone who may be in a mental health crisis.

“We will continue to work closely with the police and other colleagues to get people the right care, in the right place."

A spokesman for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust said: “Our partnership with Cambridgeshire Police is very important to us.

“In recent years, a number of measures have been put in place to increase the support for those in mental health crisis thanks to funding from the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Integrated Care System.

“This has included providing mental health staff to work alongside police call handlers to give immediate advice to front line officers, which is funded by the Police and Crime Commissioner, and having mental health practitioners riding alongside police officers in patrol cars.

“We will continue to seek ways to develop partnerships with the police and all other agencies to improve mental health provision in the area.”