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Essex Street Triage Scheme hailed a success

A SCHEME which enables trained mental health professionals and police officers to help those in distress has been hailed a success following an independent review.

The Essex Street Triage scheme sees cars staffed by mental health professionals and police officers out in the county seven days a week from 6pm to 2am. The facility enables individuals with mental health problems, who come to the attention of police, to receive the appropriate treatment and care rather than ending up in custody.

Historically, due to the fact that police have had limited powers to deal with these issues appropriately, many individuals have been detained under section 136 (S136) of the Mental Health Act 1983, even though this may not necessarily have been the best course of action.

The Essex Street Triage scheme, which involves staff from the South Essex NHS Partnership Trust (SEPT) and North Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (NEP), had been operating across Essex from 6pm to 2am 3 days a week. However the service increased to provide cover seven days a week from April 2015.

The Office of the Police & Crime Commissioner for Essex invested nearly £50,000 into the triage project in 2014/15.

The evaluation, commissioned by the Office of the Police & Crime Commissioner for Essex, found that the Street Triage scheme is a cost effective project for Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) and police, it achieves better outcomes for service users, and has a positive impact on staff practice. The detailed evaluation report has now been published and is available to be downloaded below.

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