CRIS Linkage with the Police National Computer (PNC)
Research type
Research Database
IRAS ID
239332
Contact name
Johnny Downs
Contact email
Research summary
CRIS Linkage with the Police National Computer (PNC)
REC name
South Central - Oxford C Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
20/SC/0088
Date of REC Opinion
31 Jul 2020
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion
Data collection arrangements
The South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust Biomedical Research Centre (SLaM BRC) Case Register comprises a program (the Clinical Record Interactive Search, CRIS) which removes identifiers from SLaM’s electronic medical records system and allows access for research projects. The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) Police National Computer (PNC) is a database which holds individual records on arrests, offences and sentences incurred since 1995, for all young people and adults who reside in UK. We are seeking approval for SLaM’s Clinical Data Linkage Service (CDLS) to securely transfer a database of identifiers (name, date of birth, and address) with a specific CRIS code for young people and adults who have accessed SLaM service users to the MoJ. The MoJ will use these identifiers to match the CRIS code to the police national computer, and send back to the CDLS an anonymised PNC database. Using the CRIS code, the CDLS will create an anonymised dataset containing mental health and police data, which can be used to conduct research. Linked datasets accessed and used for research will be fully anonymised by CDLS. This means researchers only ever receive fully anonymised results, so they cannot be linked back to find identifiers.
Research programme
Offenders with mental health problems appear to be particularly vulnerable to a range of adverse events, including poor continuity of care between prison and community health services, an increased risk of long-term homelessness, potential unemployment and worsening of their underlying mental health conditions. This may contribute to the higher prevalence of suicide in recently released prisoners than in the general population. At the moment, no-one really knows know how many offenders or ex-offenders have a mental illness, or whether the health service is achieving its objectives to provide equal access to mental health services for all, irrespective of their involvement with the criminal justice system. Furthermore, there is limited evidence from ‘real world’ populations on what may help reduce involvement with the justice system for people with mental health problems. Evidence suggests that some mental health treatments for certain long-term conditions like psychosis or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, may help reduce offending behaviour especially in adolescents and young adults. We aim to create a data resource to address the gaps and limitations of the current evidence and enable a detailed examination of the association between offending, mental health disorders, treatment, and service use. In order to achieve this, we will create a data linkage between NHS mental health data from the SLaM CRIS system, with offending and sentencing data from the Police National Computer (PNC) held by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). The resultant anonymised dataset will enable researchers to examine a wide range of patient and treatment factors longitudinally in a population that until now has been very difficult to study, and produce robust evidence for.
Research database title
CRIS Linkage with the Police National Computer (PNC)
Establishment organisation
The South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLAM)
Establishment organisation address
Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) Nucleus, Mapother House
DeCrespigny Park
London
SE5 8AF