Four thousand police hours saved every month thanks to healthcare pilot run in Lancashire

A model designed to focus on providing specialist care for mental health incidents has already saved frontline officers in Lancashire around 4,000 hours a month.

Right Care Right Person was launched nationally today (Wednesday, July 26) with the aim of providing police with a new approach to dealing with health incidents where policing is not always the best agency to respond.

The model, which has been rolled out to all forces in England and Wales, has been in use in Lancashire for more than a year.

The force was the first in the region to take part in the pilot, which was set up in partnership with NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria Foundation Trust to provide mental health services across Lancashire. This partnership has ensured calls from those in crisis are responded to by resources with the right skills and expertise to provide the best possible service.

Since May 2022, 41,254 incidents have been triaged through the scheme, with 10,167 of those directed straight into health services. The partnership has seen each of Lancashire’s three policing divisions having officers working with mental health nurses to respond to the most serious of incidents, while we can also transfer callers from our contact centre direct to a mental health practitioner who can support, advise and signpost individuals.  

This has saved thousands of hours which has been re-invested into our response model where officers can dedicate this time to attending, investigating and preventing crime.

Lancashire Police’s Assistant Chief Constable Russ Procter said: “Welfare checks and concerns for safety have, in recent years, used a disproportionate amount of police time, when they are very rarely crime-related.
“While our officers have attended these incidents and have done their very best to provide the right care and support – we are clearly not always the best placed agency to have responded. We also know that in some mental health cases having a police response may have a negative impact on the individual which is not what a loved one or family member requires at such a vulnerable point in their life. Right Care Right Person prevents this by our partnership approach in providing the right resource, care and signposting.
“At Lancashire Police we hold ourselves to a high standard and I must be clear this scheme has not stopped us from attending incidents where there is a threat to life or where a crime has been committed. It’s about working smarter to provide a better service.
“I must hold myself and the force to account for preventing and detecting crime and keeping people safe. This has provided the time to enable our officers and staff to be able to provide a more effective and efficient service.
“It is unacceptable that officers should spend hours in hospital with patients awaiting mental health assessments or placement when they should be on the streets responding to crime and disorder. Right Care Right Person is reducing this requirement and ensuring that the right agency with the right skills and training can appropriately manage such situations and have the right outcome for each person.”
All police forces across England and Wales will begin implementing Right Care, Right Person, working with local partner agencies to embed the approach.

Interim Chief Nurse and Quality Officer at Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust (LSCft) said: “We are pleased to continue to work in partnership with our colleagues at Lancashire Police to ensure individuals gets the appropriate care from the right service or team during their time of need.
"We look forward to continuing to make progress in this area by working collaboratively together.”