Seattle University Collaborative Projects - International Academy of ...

from each of the limbs of the criminal justice system and the project’s overall efficacy will bediscussed, with recommendations for future work.Mental Health Screening in Police Custody in England: Developing a ScreeningTool and Referral PathwayHeather Noga, Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester, UK(heather.noga@manchester.ac.uk)There are many reasons why people end up detained at a police station, some of which aremental health-related. A large proportion of this group would benefit from being diverted fromthe police and court systems altogether, and instead receiving treatment from health and/or socialservices. In the UK, Criminal Justice Mental Health Liaison and Diversion teams are largelyreliant on referrals made by police for mental health assessments. The aim of this project was toimprove current practices surrounding the identification of mental health problems for people inpolice custody, through increasing access to timely and appropriate referrals to mental healthprofessionals. The study incorporated a mixed methodological approach including a review ofexisting screening proceedures, interviews, a delphi consultation exercise and action learninggroups, which included the perpectives of the police, mental health professionals and serviceusers. Upon completion, the project generated a referral decision tool, to be used by non-mentalhealth trained staff to determine whether a detainee in police custody should be referred forfurther assessment and possible diversion. The integration of this tool will refine the referralpathway and increase the chances of a person accessing health and social care services frompolice custody.Health Screening of People in Police Custody: The HELP-PC ProjectIain McKinnon, Newcastle University (iain.mckinnon@ncl.ac.uk)There is a significant amount of health morbidity among police custody detainees. Chronic andacute physical disorders, serious mental illness, substance misuse, elevated suicide risk andintellectual disability are all overrepresented. In England and Wales, the Police and CriminalEvidence Act (1984) confers responsibility for the welfare of custody detainees to the custodySergeant. In a previous study it was established that police screening procedures miss significantamounts of health morbidity and detainees at risk. In a recent study, we developed and piloted arevised screening tool for police custody sergeants within London's Metropolitan Police Service(MPS). This presentation will outline the development of a new police custody screen includingthe results from the pilot. Additionally, recommendations will be made for future changes tocurrent police custody screening procedures.125