Right Care, Right Person mental health approach by police begins in Norfolk despite fears

A controversial new approach which will see police attending fewer mental health calls could have "tragic consequences" in a county that already struggles to support people in crisis, campaigners have warned.

The Right Care, Right Person policy aims to free up officers to focus on crime instead.

It has already been introduced in a number of police forces but plans to implement the approach in Norfolk had to be postponed in February following the deaths of four members of the same family.

Bartlomiej Kuczinski, 45, had rung 999 concerned about his mental state just an hour before he, his two daughters and their aunt were found dead at his home in Costessey, near Norwich. Police did not attend the initial call.

As the policy came into effect in the county on Wednesday, police chiefs insisted they would attend where they were genuinely needed: where there was a risk to life or a concern for welfare.

But they believe too much time is spent attending calls where officers are not the best people to deal with a situation.

"Surely if you're in need you want the right person with the right skills, the right knowledge, training and understanding of why you need their help to be the person you see?" said Nick Davison, Norfolk's assistant chief constable.

"A police officer is not necessarily the right person to deal with somebody who is in a mental health crisis."

In 2022, one in six calls - or more than 27,000 - received by Norfolk Police were for concern for welfare. More than 17,000 of them were deemed emergency or priority attendance calls, meaning officers attended around 50 a day.

On top of that, there were 267 instances of police providing transport and 888 calls where people had gone missing from medical facilities.

Mr Davison said the force anticipated it would attend between 40% and 43% of calls under Right Care, Right Person.

But the policy is a cause for further concern for mental heath campaigners in the county.

The Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, which runs mental health services in the area, has long been struggling.

Last year, inspectors rated it as requiring improvement - a step up from the inadequate rating a year before. The trust has said it is on an "improvement journey".

The Campaign to Save Mental Health Services in Norfolk and Suffolk, which is calling for a public inquiry into the deaths of 11,000 people under the trust's care over a five-year period, said the "right person" did not exist in Norfolk.

"We fear it will have tragic consequences," said campaigner Mark Harrison. "This is right care, right person, wrong time.

"There isn't a right person in Norfolk to support people in mental health crisis because the mental health trust is dysfunctional. It's been in special measures for 10 years and can't respond."

NSFT declined to comment but the Norfolk and Waveney Integrate Care Board, which oversees NHS services in the area, said: "All partners are committed to working collaboratively and carefully together to implement the Right Care, Right Person model.

“We have taken steps to tailor the model for Norfolk and are working together with our partners in health and social care, so we can make the necessary changes to service provision and ensure vulnerable people are given appropriate care by the appropriate agency.

"We have also been collaborating with local experts by experience as part of this work and will continue to monitor the implementation across Norfolk.”

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