Fed chair blasts NHS senior leaders and politicians for relying on cops

3 August 2023

The chair of Hertfordshire Police Federation has blasted senior leaders in the NHS and politicians for relying on cops to spend hours - if not days - with people detained under the mental health act due to a shortage of beds and adequate support.

Luke Mitchell has commented after the ‘Right Care, Right Person’ agreement was recently introduced, news that means police forces across England and Wales will not always need to respond to mental health calls.

Although Luke agrees this is a ‘step in the direction’ and recognises that there is an ‘enthusiasm to make progress both locally and nationally’, he argues that officers will still be put in a morally difficult position, as he believes cops ‘won’t want to risk leaving a person with mental health issues unsupported’.

“As it stands a person can be detained for 24 hours by the police while an assessment should be taking place by the NHS, under the Mental Health Act. However, these time limits aren’t being met, which means our officers - our members - are having to then stay with that person for extended periods of time, which could be days,” said Luke.

Mental health patients need the right help from the right people.

“This is wrong for so many reasons. Firstly, A&E is beginning to look like a police station, due to the number of officers who are having to stay with people under the NHS who have completed their assessment. Is that fair on the patient? Surely, that person’s loved ones won’t want them to be sitting in A&E with a police officer - they need to be in the right environment, with the right care.

“Secondly, when officers are spending hours - if not days - with detained patients, other cases are not proceeding. Reports of domestic violence, for example, might not be attended to as quickly, due to a lack of resources.

“And thirdly - and I need to be clear about this - this is putting an unnecessary amount of stress and pressure on our members. The majority of police officers join the job to look after people - wanting to help is in our blood. So, most police officers will never leave a person who is mentally unwell. We know we have a responsibility to safeguard that person. Therefore, they won’t want to put that person at risk or members of the public at risk.

“And finally, and this has recently become more of an issue. Our officers, our members, are being physically assaulted by those detained under the Mental Health Act. I actually spoke to a Fed member the other day who was in this very position and needed stitches, having been assaulted and is now off work.

“This isn’t OK.”

Luke told that until recently, NHS Hertfordshire had commissioned a private healthcare company who are trained to sit with those awaiting a bed, but funding for that service was pulled in July.

“I need to stress, I am, in no way criticising our colleagues in the NHS - those who are under just as much stress as us, with very few resources. The people I am speaking to are the senior leaders in the NHS and politicians,” he continued.

“Once again, you are relying on the police to pick up the pieces. We simply cannot continue to do it all, we don’t have the capacity.

“I would go as far as to argue that the powers in the NHS are actually neglecting the safety of both the patients and our officers.”

The ‘Right Care, Right Person’ is a national partnership agreement, setting out a consistent framework and expectation across the country that police forces will work with the local NHS to ensure people suffering a mental health crisis will get a health response and not a response from the police.

“I appreciate the ‘Right Care, Right Person’ agreement is a step forward, but it is not enough. We, as police officers, will still have to assess or triage every call - and while we will divert when we can, we won’t leave a patient with mental health issues unattended. That will never change, the responsibility will continue to remain with the police,” ended Luke.