Right Care, Right Person making a positive difference to victims of crime

The Right Care, Right Person (RCRP) initiative has been extended since the 4 June, making a positive difference to our ability to serve victims of crime effectively.

In June we moved to phase two of the initiative, which means the most appropriate agency now responds to instances where a member of the public walks out of a mental health facility. Phase one, which has been in action since February, covered instances where a member of the public walked out of general healthcare facilities and calls relating to concerns for the health and welfare of individuals.

Since launch, we are now responding to, on average, 26 concern for welfare jobs per day. This time last year that figure stood at 57. The reduced number of calls the police are responding to indicates officers are utilising the ‘time saved’ to attend more incidents, which means we are able to respond faster to calls for service, investigate crimes more effectively and better protect victims of crime.

We are in regular contact with affected partners and they are all clear on what is required of them. However, as we are experiencing 10,000 extra calls over the last 12 months to 999 and 101, initiatives like RCRP are essential to help us meet increasing demand and protect those most in need.

We will of course continue to respond those concerns for welfare where there is an immediate risk to life. We will always prioritise and provide support to those at risk of harm if needed.

The next phase is expected to go live in August. We will be developing and reviewing our existing approach for police and health systems to work together to quickly and efficiently identify the best place to take a person detained under section 136 of the Mental Health Act, to reduce time spent on conveyance. We will also be developing and reviewing local escalation protocols for situations including: significant system delays that result in people being inappropriately under the care of the police when they should be accessing mental health support. We are already in discussions with partners on how this will work and what support we can continue to offer.

More information about phase three will be shared in future editions.