The Police and Crime Commissioner for Staffordshire has praised the NHS for their response to help those in mental health crisis following an independent report.
Recommendations were made in the Ethics, Transparency and Audit Panel (ETAP) report which looked into why a seriously ill man spent 64 hours in police custody despite not committing a crime because suitable NHS services weren’t available.
Progress has been made across agencies in Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent to make sure people in mental health crisis get the right support. NHS and police staff have been working closely together, leading to the number of people detained in police custody under the Mental Health Act falling by 80 per cent. Funding has also been secured for an expansion of Harplands Hospital in 2017 which will include Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) beds.
Now, following the ETAP recommendations, North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust is taking further steps to support those in mental health crisis and prevent them being placed in police cells, reducing the chance of a repeat of the case in the independent report.
The Trust has written to Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Ellis to say it “accepts the findings and recommendations contained in the report and intend to implement these in full”.
Andy Rogers, Director of Operations for the Trust, said: “We have worked in close partnership with our commissioners to develop and agree a business case for a Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit in North Staffordshire and work is due to start later this year to develop a PICU at Harplands Hospital.
“Furthermore, as a result of excellent partnership working between the Trust and Police, we have seen a significant reduction in the number of people being detained in police custody under the Mental Health Act.”
Mr Rogers, in his letter, added that the Trust had also written to other providers involved in the case of the man kept in custody for 64 hours, as recommended in the ETAP report.
Mr Ellis said: “North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust has responded really positively to the recommendations from ETAP. This shows how an independent review can help bring about change to improve support for vulnerable people who should not spend time in police custody because there is no suitable support or accommodation elsewhere.”
The Police and Crime Commissioner previously made public a shocking three-day timeline of last March’s incident, which highlighted a series of phone calls, texts and conversations with mental health professionals that failed to help find a suitable place of safety for the 48-year-old man, who absconded from a mental health unit in London and ended up in Stoke-on-Trent.
ETAP’s 31-page review, published in March, included the following findings:
- A lack of staff at the man’s ‘home’ hospital in London meant information about him was not quickly available. The hospital was unable to provide a bed.
- The NHS Mental Health Team contacted 11 different places to try and find a suitable Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) bed.
- A PICU bed was eventually found in Manchester but withdrawn.
- A PICU bed was then offered in Bradford. Suitable patient transport was delayed for several hours. The bed was withdrawn while the man was in transit, forcing a return to Stoke-on-Trent.
Mr Ellis said: “The Ethics, Transparency and Audit Panel (ETAP), is growing and tackling areas where closer scrutiny is needed to help improve policing and services for the community.
“I said earlier this year that senior managers across NHS Trusts countrywide must take some responsibility for this situation where a man was incarcerated for 64 hours despite not committing a crime and two dozen police officers were tested to their absolute limit. The letter and action plan from North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust is a move in the right direction and is very welcome.”
The independent ETAP report also found:
- There were two missed opportunities for police to detain the man earlier.
- A whole police custody wing had to be cordoned off because of the man’s condition.
- At least 22 police officers were involved in the incident over the long weekend.
- Despite the best efforts of police, the man’s condition deteriorated while in custody.
Staffordshire Police has also recognised and accepted the ETAP recommendations and drawn up an action plan to address the recommendations.
The county-wide ETAP was established by the PCC in 2013 under his ‘New Dawn of Transparency’ agenda.
It is made up of members of the public who have become expert citizens and has received national recognition for its scrutiny of the police use of Taser, stop and search and crime recording in Staffordshire.
To find out more about the work of ETAP click here
