A NEW agreement that means less police involvement in 999 responses to mental health incidents will be a \u201cgame-changer\u201d, South Yorkshire Police Federation has said.<\/p>\n
Under the National Partnership Agreement, people experiencing mental health issues will be attended to by medical professionals as the priority, rather than the police as default.<\/p>\n
The new agreement is based on a model developed by Humberside Police, called Right Care, Right Person, which has saved the force 1,100 hours per month. However, officers will still attend such incidents where they are needed.<\/p>\n
South Yorkshire Police Federation Chair Steve Kent said: \u201cThis hasn\u2019t been instigated in our force just yet, but it\u2019s coming in and it will be a game-changer.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s absolutely right, because the police service has always been the service that can\u2019t say no. When social services are run ragged or there\u2019s nobody on duty, or the NHS have run out of resources, they\u2019ll send police in.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat creates a reliance on policing to plug the gaps, when we can\u2019t even meet our own demand, let alone anybody else\u2019s.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe public should expect the right people to go to these incidents. For people in mental health crises, for example, it shouldn\u2019t be the police, because we\u2019re not medical professionals. It should be specialist NHS staff who would go in.\u201d<\/p>\n
He continued: \u201cI really welcome this, because we have taken on these burdens way too often. The public and media see how much the NHS is struggling, but they don\u2019t see how much the police are struggling. We cannot keep carrying the can for everybody else.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have sympathy with social workers and people in the NHS, I absolutely know the strain they\u2019re under. They need to be resourced properly.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut also sometimes we don\u2019t help ourselves because we take on risks that we don\u2019t need to take on. It\u2019s about having the courage to say, \u2018No, this is not a police matter. This is the right agency you need to speak to\u2019. Humberside has already seen a dramatic decrease in demand on their officers, so it does work.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe in the Federation absolutely support this, because it will take the lid off the pressure cooker.\u201d<\/p>\n