Crews team up in action plan to treat mental health
COPS in Govan have joined forces with a paramedic as part of a new project to support those facing mental health issues.
The area’s top cop Chief Inspector Alan Bowater helped to set up the new Mental Health Street Triage (MHST) service which will see specially trained police officers accompany a paramedic in the same vehicle to incidents where there is an immediate threat to life or a person in crisis.
The trial began on August 17 and will run for six weeks in the south west of the city only.
The triage comprises of the Scottish Ambulance Service and NHS Greater Glasgow Mental Health Services.
The NHS community triage out-of-hours team will provide information, support and assessment to the officer and paramedic, who will be operating from a marked ambulance car.
They will do this via a dedicated phone line where a telephone consultation will also take place between the individual and a community psychiatric nurse. A face-toface assessment can be arranged if required.
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The triage is designed to deliver fast and efficient access to care and avoid unnecessary arrest or detention in a police cell.
Chief Inspector Bowater, Area Commander for South West Glasgow, said: “Our goal is to help vulnerable individuals feel calm, safe and reduce the number of people in crisis needing to be taken to places of safety for assessment.
“Street triage is a proven tool for stronger partnership understanding and working which provides the best service to our community and most importantly, to the person in need of care.
He added: “Our plan is to use street triage to create a better understanding of mental health for officers and enable them to have the ability to seek specialist advice so better judgements can be made on the street about patient needs.”