In 2017 the Scottish Government published the Mental Health Strategy 2017-2027 aiming to create a Scotland where people can get the right help at the right time, expert recovery, and fully enjoy their rights, free from discrimination and stigma. This strategy, and the national Vision for Justice in Scotland recognise that many people who come into contact with the criminal justice system may suffer from poor mental health and that person-centred, trauma-informed approaches need to be at the heart of service provision as part of a broader, preventative public health approach.
Following discussion at the Criminal Justice Committee in May 2022, and presentations to Authority meetings and members’ seminars by Police Scotland on the issue of mental health demand, the Scottish Police Authority made a commitment to convene a discussion on the societal-wide impact of poor mental health in the community with a focus on vulnerability and distress.
This event, chaired by Professor McQueen on behalf of the Authority, with speakers drawn from across the public and third sector, aimed to bring together partner agencies and other key stakeholders to establish a common understanding of the challenge and the current approaches to addressing it; set the wicked issue in the context of a growing challenge not only to policing but to the public and third sector and communities across Scotland, the UK and wider; describe the work being taken forward by Police Scotland both proactively and in response to displacement from under pressure partner agencies; and 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 few key themes were gathered at the event, linked to both ongoing work and new areas to be explored or developed:
- Data availability and interagency sharing.
- Clarification of roles and handover between agencies, including out of hour arrangements to avoid silos and duplication.
- Learning from, and applying, good practice gathered both locally and worldwide.
- Strengthening prevention activity, including awareness raising.
- Empowering officers through training and risk & prioritisation-based decision-making models.
- Ensuring a focus on person centred interventions and service design informed by users of our services directly.
- Recognising the associated trauma experienced by our workforce.
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