The Street Triage Project Version 1
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The Policing of Mental Health: An Examination of Street Triage Schemes in England and Wales
IRAS ID
225531
Contact name
Rivka Smith
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
The University of Sheffield
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 8 months, 23 days
Research summary
Research Summary
The research is called ‘The Policing of Mental Health: An Examination of Street Triage Schemes in England and Wales.’ In short, the research will be referred to as ‘The Street Triage Project’. The aim of the study is to critically examine the delivery of Street Triage schemes in England and Wales. The research seeks to explore what is understood about the role, purpose and delivery of Street Triage by service users with lived experience of the scheme, police officers and mental health practitioners. It will look at the nature of multi-agency partnership working in Street Triage and whether the existence of street triage in and of itself means the police are seen as a greater part of the mental health process. Finally, the research will discuss whether Street Triage should be delivered in the future. The methodology is threefold. Observation of three Street Triage schemes in two case study police constabularies for a period not exceeding 6 weeks per scheme and attendance at multi agency meetings held within these areas where in existence over a 12-month period (2018-2019). One thousand Service User open question postal questionnaires sent by the host Research and Development department on behalf of the researcher to people that have been seen by the Sheffield Street Triage team over an 18-month period between 1st September 2016 and March 1st, 2017. Finally, fifty semi-structured interviews with Street Triage Stakeholders; Mental Health Practitioners; Police Officers and Service Users from three schemes in two case study constabularies. Participants will include past or present Service Users with lived experience of Street Triage Schemes; Staff employed by NHS Trusts who work on Street Triage Schemes (Approved Mental Health Professionals; Nurses; Social Workers); Police Officers that have worked/currently work on Street Triage schemes; Street Triage Managers and Funders.
Summary of Results
Service user perspectives ▪ Contrary to concerns around criminalisation, people with lived experience of Police Mental Health Triage valued the level of compassion shown by police officers, with many expressing a preference for officers to respond to their mental health emergency over mental health workers, recognising a lack of alternative service.
▪ People with lived experience of street triage reported a lack of trust in mental health services due to prior experiences which included issues around fairness, dignity, and being treated with humanity. This affected their perception of PMHT e.g., fear that the police would rely on their MH notes that many reported they believed to include false or embellished information.
▪ The occupational culture within some out of hour or ‘crisis’ care teams (that also staffed PMHT) raised grave concerns, including the use of ‘dark humour’ described as a coping strategy and the impact that staff mentality had upon the provision provided to service users. This manifested through a sense of distrust of service users, impacting upon service user perceptions of procedural justice. This did not yet appear to have been considered by the police, on an individual or organisational level, in the context of PMHT schemes and navigating these may be problematic.REC name
Wales REC 3
REC reference
17/WA/0369
Date of REC Opinion
20 Dec 2017
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion