Mental health breakthrough

Signing the concodat

A GROUNDBREAKING agreement to improve mental health care across Greater Manchester was signed by police and health chiefs yesterday following a successful trial in Oldham.

The commitment comes off the back of a mental health triage scheme launched last December, giving police officers 24-hour telephone contact with specialist mental health teams.

The crisis care concordat provides a framework for Greater Manchester to ensure people suffering a mental health crisis get the right care.

The agreement was signed at Salford University by Police and Crime Commissioner Tony Lloyd and representatives from Greater Manchester Police, NHS, probation and the fire service.

Mr Lloyd said: “This is a step forward in transforming the care and support people suffering a mental health crisis receive.

“It is having a real impact and means vulnerable people are getting a better service.

“I will continue to drive forward this work, bringing groups together to make sure we continue to make strides in transforming how we deliver services and protect the most vulnerable in our society.”

A full evaluation of the Oldham scheme, carried out by Manchester Metropolitan University and Salford University, was presented at the event.

RAID (Rapid Assessment Interface and Discharge) enables officers attending an incident involving mental illness to ring the triage number for information to help direct the individual to the most appropriate service.

During the trial period from December 2, 2013, to May 31, this year, 673 calls were made to police regarding mental health.

Of these, officers made 217 calls to RAID amounting to 32 per cent of their workload.

Wards which saw the most calls lodged were Coldhurst (73), Failsworth West (58) and Alexandra (42) while three individuals alone represented 10.4 per cent of calls made to police regarding mental health.
To read a full version of this story follow links to the e-Chron digital edition or buy the Chronicle.