Mental health training 829/2024

FOI Reference: 829/2024

Request:

1 - What is the training (including how to approach and deal with people with mental health issues) that all police officers receive regarding mental health – i.e. list of training material used and where it can be viewed/obtained?

2 - Is the document ‘Police and Mental health – How to get it Right Locally’, part of standard police training with all police officers and if so from when?

Clarification Received: The document I am referring to is, ‘Police and Mental health – How to get it Right Locally’, as previously stated. I have attached a copy. Please confirm if this document is used as part of the mental health training for police officers.

Response 1:

I can confirm that Dyfed-Powys Police does hold the information requested, as outlined below.

Officers receive training on the following:

• General overview of Mental Health (MH) and Personality Disorders – how they differ, how people may present.
• Communicating with persons experiencing MH crisis – how to understand what a MH crisis looks like, what options are open to officers to help, whether it’s signposting, voluntary sector support or support from other statutory services.
• Understanding suicidal behaviour – how a person may present, type of language used, warning signs.
• Communicating with persons expressing suicidal ideation - how to communicate with a person who expresses a desire to end their life. Things that can be helpful to say.
• Understanding self-harm – what constitutes self-harm, why people self-harm, how officers can help.
• Communicating with persons expressing self-harm thoughts, or actively self-harming
• Understanding the support available locally for MH – local Community MH Teams, hospitals, Crisis Response and Home Treatment teams, Third Sector/Voluntary MH services, 111 opt 2 etc.
• Overview of the Mental Health Act and police powers concerning MH – i.e. Section 135, 136 – how and when these powers can be used. Also an overview of police powers to return MH patients under Community Treatment Orders and Section 17 leave.
• In addition to the above, new officers in training go on a 2 day placement to a variety of MH establishments where they shadow MH staff in the course of their day to day work.

The training  is delivered by a Mental Health Co-ordinator, colleagues from the Mental Health Act Legislation team from the health board and senior mental health nurses.

Response 2:

I can confirm that Dyfed-Powys Police does hold the information requested, as outlined below.

The Dyfed-Powys Police Mental Health Co-ordinator has stated that the document ‘Police and Mental health – How to get it Right Locally’ is quite outdated, it’s 11 years old and mainly references services in England.

There’s a small section that mentions Dyfed-Powys Police, Dyfed-Powys Police training now supersedes what we were doing 11 years ago.

Dyfed Powys Police and Hywel Dda Health Board collaborate in training police officers’ in mental health awareness. Student officers complete a day’s MHFA training delivered by staff at the local acute psychiatric ward, followed by a placement within local mental health facilities or at a relevant voluntary sector organisation. This provides officers with the opportunity to interact with service users and gain a better understanding of their experiences and needs. It also encourages closer working relationships with mental health services and community services.

On the whole, we do follow what’s mentioned in the document loosely, but there are geographical variations. We still collaborate really closely with MH partners in Hywel Dda and Powys Health boards, as well as all the local authorities. Dyfed-Powys Police do not have a triage service for example, but rather than this being seen as a negative point, it’s a positive as our partners have enhanced their services to be 24/7 points of contact for officers, with access to professionals at all times. Dyfed-Powys Police also have a well established 111 option 2 service in our force area, which works really well and is the “go to” option for officers when MH support is required.

The Training provided by Dyfed-Powys Police meets all the criteria set out in the college of policing guidelines, and ultimately these are the guidelines we have to adhere to. But what we do in our force exceeds the guidelines.

It should be noted that as a result of the systems adopted by Dyfed-Powys Police in relation to the recording of such information that the information released may or may not be accurate.

(This is a response under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and disclosed on 05/09/2024)