As Staffordshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Ellis continues to drive the national agenda on police incidents involving people with mental health issues, local organisations came together at special event.
Police officers responded to 15,000 incidents in Staffordshire last year involving such individuals – many of which could have been dealt with by more appropriate agencies.
In work commissioned by Staffordshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Ellis earlier this year, a case by case report highlighted the scale of the problem including how much time officers spend dealing with mental health issues and the significant impact this has on operational policing.
The Staffordshire Report led to a call for action by the Commissioner for leaders from the NHS, local authorities and other partner agencies to get together and change a system which too often leads to the criminalisation of the mentally ill.
In response to this, lead representatives from agencies including the police, ambulance, fire, hospital, Social Care and mental health services took part in a workshop on Friday (25 October) to develop a joint approach that will seen frontline workers equipped with the right skills.
The event, held at police headquarters, focused on getting vulnerable people the most appropriate support from the relevant agencies and led to a multi-agency training plan.
It was organised by the Commissioner’s mental health programme manager Zofja Zolna who was appointed to take the work forward and increase the pace of business in this crucial area.
Mr Ellis said: “I set out a challenge for all services involved to sort this out and come up with plans for Staffordshire. We need to get a system that stops people with mental health problems being locked up in cells and find an appropriate alternative.
“I’m pleased that the Staffordshire Report has stimulated such incredible public debate and I get the sense that things are starting to move forward. Ensuring staff from agencies have the right tools to do the job so that vulnerable people get the right support from the right organisation is crucial.
“I would hope that in the next few months in Staffordshire we come to agreement where the NHS, where I and where other services will invest money into new services which are 24/7, stop people being locked up and get police doing what they should be doing, being out there, being visible and catching criminals.”
