Mental Health (NPCC/findings of exercise/report & officer training)

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.22.022476

I note you seek access to the following information:

Could you please answer these questions with regards to the Metropolitan Police

1. Do you use the National Police Chiefs’ Council and College of Policing’s definition of mental ill health? “Any police incident thought to relate to someone’s mental health where their vulnerability is at the centre of the incident or where the police have had to do something additionally or differently because of it.”

2. When did you adopt this definition?

3. What were the findings of the ‘snapshot’ exercise, recommended by HMICFRS in 2018, conducted on the 12 November 2019 for 24 hours between 00:00 and 23:59?

4. Did this force evaluate its mental health triage services to assess their effectiveness and the environment they operate in before August 2019, following the recommendation in the HMICFRS 2018 ‘Picking up the pieces’ report?

5. Did your mental health triage services alter as a result of this evaluation, in which case how?

6. Did this force evaluate its mental health training programmes before August 2019 using the APP provided by The College of Policing, following the recommendation in the HMICFRS 2018 ‘Picking up the pieces’ report?

7. Did your mental health training for officers alter as a result of this evaluation, in which case how?

Decision

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

Please find below information pursuant to your request above.

Q1 - Do you use the National Police Chiefs’ Council and College of Policing’s definition of mental ill health? “Any police incident thought to relate to someone’s mental health where their vulnerability is at the centre of the incident or where the police have had to do something additionally or We differently because of it.”

Yes

Q2 - When did you adopt this definition?

The definition was included in the MPS MH Policy during a review of the policy in Dec 2019/Jan 2020. This version of the Toolkit which was published on the intranet in May 2020.

Q3 - What were the findings of the ‘snapshot’ exercise, recommended by HMICFRS in 2018, conducted on the 12 November 2019 for 24 hours between 00:00 and 23:59?

Information not held by the MPS. Please contact College of Policing who co-ordinated and published the findings.

Q4 - Did this force evaluate its mental health triage services to assess their effectiveness and the environment they operate in before August 2019, following the recommendation in the HMICFRS 2018 ‘Picking up the pieces’ report?

London is served by 9 different Mental Health Trusts. Where they exist in London the triage services are commissioned by the local Mental Health Trusts and their effectiveness is monitored by the Trusts.

Q5 - Did your mental health triage services alter as a result of this evaluation, in which case how?

As above triage services are commissioned by the trusts

Q6 - Did this force evaluate its mental health training programmes before August 2019 using the APP provided by The College of Policing, following the recommendation in the HMICFRS 2018 ‘Picking up the pieces’ report?

Yes, in late 2018 the MPS reviewed mental health training within the MPS and commenced plans to provide a one-day training package which would be developed with a view to train a large number of frontline officers throughout the first half of 2019.
This training focused on legislative amendments, policy and procedure, collaboration and providing a better understanding of mental ill health.
The package was co-produced with the College Of Policing, Mental Health Professionals and service users. The content was based on the College of Policing Authorised Professional Practice (APP), the London Crisis Care Pathway and the MPS Mental Health Toolkit. 10,500 officers were trained between Nov 2018 and April 2019.

Q7 - Did your mental health training for officers alter as a result of this evaluation, in which case how?

As above, although this training package was a once off. New recruits receive, as part of their foundation training, a one hour forty-five minute input on mental health with an additional one hour lesson on suicide prevention.