SIPR is thrilled to announce that we have now made an award in this recent Responsive Research Fund call. Our congratulations go to Dr Martha Canfield, Professor Elizabeth Hughes, and Dr Elena Dimova of Glasgow Caledonian University, Professor Susan McVie of the University of Edinburgh, and Professor Martin Webber of the University of York. This highly skilled project team will conduct a rapid review of evidence from published and grey literature in the area of Good Practice in the Transfer of Care.
The Scottish Police Authority, over the last few years, has maintained an increased focus on vulnerability and mental health distress related demand, specifically how policing best responds to calls for service.
In early 2022, following discussion with the Authority on pressures being faced by Police Scotland in responding to mental health related demand, Martyn Evans, SPA Chair, made a commitment that the Authority would place a greater focus on the appropriate police response to calls for service around mental health issues.
The Scottish Parliament’s Criminal Justice Committee also expressed an interest in this area of policing and held an evidence session in May 2022 which the Authority and Police Scotland contributed to. To take these discussions further, the Authority convened a discussion on the societal-wide impact of poor mental health in the community; with a focus on vulnerability and distress in December 2022. This event, chaired by Professor McQueen on behalf of the Authority, with speakers drawn from across the public and third sector, aimed to establish four things: 1) a common understanding of the topic; 2) set this ‘wicked’ issue in the context of a growing challenge; 3) describe the proactive and prevention focused work being taken forward by Police Scotland in collaboration with key partners; and 4) recognise the interdependencies, partnership interfaces and opportunities in the system, identifying current best practice that could be adopted as common practice and then nationally consistent approaches.
A number of commitments were made by Police Scotland as a result of the event in December 2022, with progress reported to Policing Performance Committee in September 2023. Following this event the Authority also published a briefing on mental health and policing, which details the strategic position in relation to mental health related calls for service and the Police Scotland response to these.
The Authority, Police Scotland and Scottish Government agree that mental health related demand on policing, requires a multi-agency and multi-faceted approach including effective partnerships, training, community engagement, and support mechanisms for officers.
