NHS Confederation responds to National Partnership Agreement

Responding to the announcement by the Home Office of a National Partnership Agreement limiting the police response to mental health crises, Dr Layla McCay, director of policy at the NHS Confederation, said:

“The government has recently published the National Partnership Agreement, which will see the Right Care, Right Person approach being implemented. This will help ensure that people with health and/or social care needs are responded to by the right person to best meet their needs.  It particularly focuses on the interface between policing and mental health services.

“It is not a crime to experience a mental health issue, and most people in crisis have not committed an offence, so health leaders will generally be supportive of the approach outlined by Government to move away from the police being first responders. It should be the NHS or partners who primarily support mental health patients, not the police.
 
“However, the police will always have a key support role to play with not only people with mental health issues, but also people with learning disabilities or autism, and of course when there is threat to life or serious risk of harm. The police have particular duties under the Mental Health Act 1983, that only they can perform.

“Freeing up of police hours does not make the work go away, but rather transfers it to the NHS and other partners. Taking over this work will require significant additional capacity in already stretched mental health services, and it will affect other services.  Implementing Right Care, Right Place will require good, system wide planning to produce good outcomes for all and to minimise any risks to patients.

“NHS leaders will be concerned that there is no additional resource attached to the publication of the National Partnership Agreement, but there is some recognition that implementation cannot be cost neutral. It is likely that the NHS will need additional capital funding, revenue and the workforce in place.  

“The cost will vary from system to system depending on what services are place and whether they have the workforce to help mitigate the reduction in police support, but it has been estimated that this could be considerable. The government needs to consider additional funding for this initiative in the autumn statement and the spring budget. 
 
“It is important that there is a genuine partnership agreement about what the roles of the police are, rather than any partner working unilaterally, and this proposed approach, along with the plans that systems will develop, must ensure that safety and the needs of people are put first.   

“Local health system leaders will know the needs of their populations well, what crisis services they already have in place and what the challenges are in their system. So, it is positive that each ICS will develop their own plan, developed in partnership with the police, and with people with lived experience at the centre, so it can be tailored to local need. These plans should help identify what the true cost of implementing Right Care, Right Place is, and how long it will take to safely put it into practice. 

“The Right Care, Right Person approach has already been implemented in Humberside. So, systems can learn from the work that took place there, especially around how it impacts on certain groups of people – those from BME communities, children and young people, those with learning disabilities and autistic people for example. 

“We know that it took about three years to implement this approach in Humberside, so it will take time to fully move towards the Right Care Right Person approach across England, but it is important that this isn’t rushed, and we take time to get it right. 

“For instance, as part of Right Care, Right Person there needs to be a clear threshold for the calls that police will respond to, and that it is separate to the polices’ duties under the Mental Health Act. 
 
“The overall intention of Right Person, Right Place is the right one, but the government needs to consider funding this in the autumn spending review and the budget, as implementation – and resources to do so – will be key.”