Posted on 28th Jan
A team of police and mental health professionals who respond to police incidents when members of the public are experiencing a mental health crisis will feature in a Channel 4 documentary series in February.
Officers from Nottinghamshire Police’s mental health street triage team appeared alongside healthcare professionals from the Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust in the series, entitled Losing It: Our Mental Health Emergency.
The mental health street triage team feature in episode four of the series.
Assistant Chief Constable Steve Cooper, from Nottinghamshire Police, said: “Mental health is an area that many members of the public would not immediately associate with the police, but it is a complex issue that our officers, staff and volunteers contend with as part of their everyday work.
“Nottinghamshire Police’s shared mental health street triage team is just one example of how we are doing things differently by working alongside healthcare professionals to provide specialist support to our frontline officers which, ultimately, helps to provide a better, more joined-up service to the public we serve.
“The episode featuring the street triage team is a credit to the patients who have opened up at a particularly difficult time in their lives, as well as to the police officers and healthcare professionals who support them.
“Those officers and staff come across as professional, compassionate, caring and competent in each of the cases involved and we look forward to this series placing a much-needed focus on what is an incredibly important and complex issue.”
The mental health street triage team is made up of medical professionals from Nottinghamshire Healthcare, who work alongside frontline Nottinghamshire Police officers to provide a more integrated response to incidents where those affected present with mental health issues.
The team’s involvement in the programme complemented the wider series, which explored the complex decision-making that surrounds patients living with mental health conditions.
Channel 4 crews joined the team in summer 2019 to demonstrate how police and healthcare professionals work alongside one another to provide more joined-up support to members of the public who come into contact with the police after they have experienced mental health issues.
By working closely together, the team are able to better signpost patients who are experiencing a mental health crisis to more comprehensive and appropriate support.
Pictured are Pc Rich Boam and Linda Pert, community mental health nurse for Nottinghamshire Heathcare, from the Street Triage Team that will appear in episode four of the series.
