I was summonsed (invited) to Brighton by @SteveyBMH aka the now retired National Mental Health Co-ordinator @CollegeofPolice Steve is a tip top fella & this was his gig & final hurrah. Steve is/was very clear, that the girls & boys in blue, should not be the first line of response to people experiencing mental health crisis. However the reality is, that far too often, the girls & boys in blue #Team999 & the almost ubiquitous S.136, are the only response on offer. I have been to a couple of these conferences now & to be fair, the girls & boys in blue really do appear to get it. They now know what an #AMHP is & does. They mostly know that the “P” stands for “Professional”. They know that the #AMHP has to find a S.12 Dr or 2 & that the #AMHP doesn’t do beds. They know all about S.140 & that NHS compliance with this particular section of the MHA, is part of the solution. Most of them now know, that S.136 is actually an arrest (preserved power of & not for an offence). They know that coordinating a Mental Health Act Assessment in custody, too often represents a huge challenge for #AMHPs & they also know that we #AMHPs probably need somewhere to park. They, like you & @seandilleyNEWS, also know (see article here), that the mental health system is dysfunctional & struggles to meet the demands placed on it. They acknowledge that they are sometimes placed between a rock & a hard place & they know who is actually placing them in that position. The big cheese @DCCRachelBacon certainly appears to understand her brief & she is being ably supported by @BenjaminRoweso1 & Tony Jarred (needs to join @Twitter soon) @metpoliceuk. It isn’t very often, that a wee boy from Derry, gets to sit next to a Deputy Chief Constable. It struck me as I listened & wandered about the very posh Grand Hotel, just how much these girls & boys in blue cared about this stuff. Police Forces from up & down the country, from over Hadrian’s Wall, from the Valleys & the PNSI were represented & they are all trying to do this stuff better. They are all trying to make multi agency partnership working, actually work. So I stood up & did the A to Z of #AMHPing. I banged on about the need for better legal literacy & suggested that people actually need to read the MHA & the MHA Code of Practice & probably the MCA.
I might have suggested that the girls & boys in blue need more training in mental health. (but to be fair, the boss pays me to say that 😉)
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