Police liaison and section 136: Comparison of two different approaches

Abstract

Aims and method Two police liaison and section 136 schemes were developed alongside police services at different sites within the same NHS trust. In one, a mental health nurse worked with frontline police attending incidents related to mental health. The other involved nurses providing advice from the police control room. Section 136 detentions were measured over two 6-month periods (6 months apart) before and after practice change. Data analysed included total numbers of section 136 assessments, outcomes following subsequent assessment, and relevant diagnostic and demographic factors. Association of any change in section 136 total numbers and proportion subsequently admitted was investigated in both sites.Results The model involving a nurse alongside frontline police showed significant reduction in section 136 numbers (38%, P < 0.01) as well as greater admission rates (P = 0.01). The scheme involving support within the police control room did not show any change in section 136 detention but showed a non-significant (P = 0.16) decrease in subsequent admission.Clinical implications Mental health nurses working alongside frontline police officers can help improve section 136 numbers and outcomes.

Police-related triage interventions for mental health-related incidents: a rapid evidence synthesis

“…One RCT evaluated a training programme for front-line officers, 47,48 although the remaining studies were largely descriptive, reporting little comparative data. Single studies used the following designs: a comparison of two different models of PRMHT interventions, 44 a largely single-group evaluation during a PRMHT intervention with some comparison data from a cost-benefit analysis, 46 an evaluation across multiple areas of PRMHT pilot interventions that reported comparative data only for some outcomes (e.g. S136 detentions), 9 a descriptive study comparing data before and after an intervention, 45 a pragmatic evaluation using a decision-analytic model exploring costs, 43 a non-comparative assessment and evaluation of two areas implementing a PRMHT intervention, 50 and a dissertation reporting data during the period of an intervention.…”

“…Eight studies (in nine articles) evaluated PRMHT interventions. 9,[43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50] Most studies evaluated variations of co-response or consultation models that were often referred to as street triage. The intervention characteristics varied across the studies, but all could be broadly classified in terms of the primary role of MHPs ( Table 5).…”

“…46 In one study, joint on-scene attendance of MHPs and police officers in one county in England was compared with telephone support only from a mental health nurse in another county. 44 In this intervention, a police unit would be on-scene before the street triage team arrive to assess the risk and confirm the need for the street triage car. Telephone support alone (one study)…”

“…A model in which telephone support was provided by a MHP from a police control room was employed by the British Transport Police (BTP) service, which covers large parts of England across many health trust and police service boundaries. 9 The study by Jenkins et al 44 compared the joint on-scene response of MHP and police officers in Ipswich, Suffolk, with telephone support only from a mental health nurse in Norwich, Norfolk.…”

“…The remaining studies did not report any details of service providers of street triage interventions. 9,[43][44][45][46]50 Data on service user characteristics were similarly limited. Reveruzzi and Pilling 9 reported the age of service users who came into contact with street triage teams in pilot areas across England, with 29% of service users aged between 18 and 30 years, and over half (52%) of service users aged between 30 and 65 years.…”