Serenity Integrated Mentoring (SIM) teams based in NHS Mental Health Trusts

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.22.025412

I note you seek access to the following information:

This is in regard to the placement of officers in Serenity Integrated Mentoring (SIM) teams based in NHS Mental Health Trusts.

To be very clear these schemes are applied to those with NO criminal justice or offending history and these schemes are not forensic based .

They are applied to highly vulnerable patients whose lives are considered to be at high risk of suicide or accidental death when in severe mental health crisis.

The Met placed officers across every single London MH Trust .
This FoI only relates to Camden & Islington NHS Foundation Trust.

This FoI also extends to all other arrangements between Met police and said Trust where similar coercive protocols have been agreed and applied outside of SIM.

Met officers -'High Intensity Officers'(HIOs) - were placed within the Personality Disorder team at said Trust.

According to all references in training and policy materials the Trust has disclosed in public FoIs their role is described as 'coercive'.

One aspect of this role is to apply pressure - including through prosecution - to those persons in acute mental health crisis who are suicidal and contact services for help on a frequent basis.

This in undisputed and caused NHS England to intervene and halt all schemes in 2021 after the StopSIM coalition made public.

The other aim is to divert formal complaints, serious safeguarding concerns and reports of abuse away from NHS Complaints pathways, safeguarding investigations and police investigations.

This is also undisputed and found within in same material.

Please provide the following data:

(1) Provide the relevant dates for when officer(s) were placed within said team in said Trust. Confirm if they were allocated an honorary contract. Provide a copy of said contract.

(2) Confirm if said officers were given full or partial access to patient records held within the Trust's patient database and if said officers were also issued with NHS SMART cards ( pt record access cards).

(3) Confirm if said officers were given full or partial access to LB Camden and.or LB Islington adult social care records and if so through what means.

(4) Confirm on what legal basis the Met relies upon to access pt and social care records being legal given this would normally breach all common law, all data protection legislation , several Articles of the Human Rights Act and all NHS confidentiality regulation.

(5) Given diversion of safeguarding concerns - including reports of staff on pt predatory sexual assault- is a central aim of said protocols provide the operational guidance for applying said protocols rather than the victim being able to report such a crime to police through usual channels.

(6) How many pts subjected to such protocols, and where sexual assault by Trust staff has been alleged, has the Met refused to take formal police statements from ?
This being a proscribed requirement under PACE.

(7) Since 2014 how many women have been subject to such protocols? If you don't know explain why you don't know and whether any Equality Impact assessment was undertaken.

(8) Confirm that at the point of placing officers within said SIM scheme Met police were fully aware that the lead practitioner in the Personality Disorder team at Camden & Islington NHS Foundation Trust had been struck off for sexual abuse of vulnerable women pts.( information in public domain)

Decision

I have today decided to disclose the located information to you in full.

Please find below information pursuant to your request above.

SIM was stopped fully in May 2021 following the ‘stop SIM’ campaign. We can confirm none of our MH teams still use the scheme and therefore none of these questions are now applicable.