Met intervention ‘will not serve London well’, says ‘very disappointed’ NHSE

NHS England has described the Metropolitan Police commissioner’s warning that his force will stop responding to emergency mental health calls as ‘very disappointing’, HSJ has learned.

Last month, Sir Mark Rowley told NHS and social care chiefs he had instructed his force to withdraw from health-related calls in the capital no later than 31 August – a warning which attracted high-profile media coverage.

Sir Mark stressed the “urgency” of needing to implement a model that originated in Humberside called “right care right person”, where after a year of tense negotiations, police and health services reached an agreement under which many mental health calls are dealt with by health professionals rather than officers.

NHSE’s letter says it agrees with the issues Sir Mark raises, adding it is inappropriate for police to spend significant amounts of time on mental health callouts.

But it adds that the NHS was “very disappointed” to receive the commissioner’s letter, stressing that the problem is better solved in partnership than unilaterally declaring the force will not respond to calls.

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Source: HSJ, 8 June 2023