Police to refuse ‘inappropriate’ requests for help as part of mental health pullback

Police say they sometimes receive calls from hospitals for help they believe should not involve them. Photo / SunLive

By RNZ

Police have detailed some of the “inappropriate” requests for help during mental health callouts that they will no longer be responding to.

A briefing shows they told health officials recently they will refuse such requests under a pullback on mental health from November.

Police said they occasionally got calls from hospitals that should not involve them.

Examples included requests to move patients from room to room within inpatient units, provide a security service to staff who had moderate concerns, uplift elderly dementia patients for mental health assessments, and bring someone who is compliant in to get their medication.

Police manager of health partnerships Matt Morris told RNZ: “Police will be applying a new threshold to mental health response matters – in essence, a set of business rules around what police should and shouldn’t be involved in.”

The pullback supported Health NZ’s aim of providing a “least restrictive” and coercive response to people in mental distress, he said.

They were regularly meeting with Health NZ and the Ministry of Health about the plans.

Police plan a four-phase pullback between November and into next year.

Phase one includes:

• voluntary handovers at emergency departments (ED) – there will be a documented handover of anyone transported by police to ED for a voluntary mental health assessment (not detained under the Mental Health Act), and police will leave soon after;
• transportation – this was a routine request, but from November “we will be requiring that mental health services provide more risk planning” first, and the new thresholds will apply;
• mental health facilities – the new threshold will apply for going to facilities “to reduce unnecessary police presence on health premises, especially inpatient mental health units”.

- RNZ

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