This week one of our directors, Daisy Jackson-Bogg, took part in a webinar, organised by Siobhan McLean and co, at Kirwin McLean & Associates to celebrate (yes we meant celebrate) world menopause day 2021. We are sure there are loads she has missed which others may have included, but as the Social Work Connect event highlighted, the experience of menopause is different for different women.
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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