Its just a case of helping each other...

In these times of cut backs and streamlining of systems and processes there is one thing that consistently wastes the time of Police, and costs the tax payer in terms of money and Police time lost. The response of partner agencies to helping Police. 

People might assume that when the Police turn up and take a person to Hospital, whether it’s due to injury or due to a possible mental health problem, that the person is seen promptly to allow that person to not only get the help they need – but also to allow the Officers to commence their duty and move onto the next incident. However, this couldn’t be further from the reality. Certainly in my experience and the current showing in Metro these days.

I’ll use my most recent experience as example of how this system is causing a further spanner to be placed in a cog that is already struggling to cope. 

A male was brought into Metro Hospital from another Force who share our hospital cross border. I’ll call this chap “Mark” for the purposes of a story. Mark had slashed his own wrists whilst in his own house, but even though the cuts looked nasty, they were more superficial than dangerous and his life was not at risk. Mark had a history of mental health problems and had been under psychiatric care for a number of years. On admittance to hospital, the Doctors were aware of this and regarded him as a high risk to himself and others. He was having thoughts and voices telling him to injure himself before he injured others and was descriptive in his language of how this was to be carried out.

As you can see, the boxes are all ticked here for someone who is in need of some serious care and should be treated accordingly. However, Mark was allowed to wait in the A&E waiting area, with other walk-in patients following his triage, and he stayed there for nearly 2 hours before being put into a cubicle in A&E and told he needed to see the mental health team as he required an assessment. 

3 hours later, Mark was sick of waiting and was beginning to get agitated and asked the staff for help. He was told that the Doctors were not on duty until 8am and so he had to wait over night until he could be checked over. Feeling let down, frustrated and probably bored, Mark walked out of A&E after telling the Nurse he was going home as he was sick of waiting. 

He walked outside and sat on a bench in the car park. The staff did not follow him, could not provide a direction of travel, and instead called 999 to report him as a missing person to the Police. I attend and find Mark sat on said bench, 20 yards from the doors to A&E. It’s obvious he has issues, but he is a well spoken and eloquent man and after 10 minutes chatting he says I am the only person who’s listened to him and spoken to him like he’s not a child and to that end, he would wait quietly inside for the Doctor. 

We walk inside and he proceeds to lie on his bed and drift off to sleep. I speak with the Doctor in charge of Mark who tells me that they are equally as frustrated, but the wait time is what it is as the specialist doesn’t work nights. He says, “You can’t leave him. He’ll cause problems and probably just walk out again, and then possibly hurt himself or someone else. You’ll have to 136 him” [detain him under the mental health act and take him to a place of safety to await assessment]. 

Now, I’m quite an amicable type of person and I like to work with people for a resolution – particularly with people in a professional capacity. However, I do not take kindly to being told how to do my job or what my powers are. Furthermore, this doctor was aware of threats, whether real or hypothetical, yet they were doing little more than stuff him behind a curtain and tell him to “sit tight”. 

The situation as it stood at the time was we had 8 Bobbies on duty. It was 2am on a Sunday morning. The city was bouncing with drunken people on payday weekend and the bars were full. I had been to 3 large scale fights already. I had arrested twice and the control room had numerous jobs waiting to be dished out that we just couldn’t service. Of my 7 remaining colleagues. 2 were in Hospital already “minding” an aggressive prisoner from custody who was later found to be feigning a condition to get out of a cell for a bit. 2 had been assaulted and were being treated by the force doctor in custody and the remaining 3 were engaged with arrests for a serious assault/affray. There was me on my own. 

Mark was asleep by now. He had displayed nothing to me to suggest he would pose a problem, let alone a threat. He was strange in manner yes, but other than that he knew he needed treatment and was just frustrated at the lack of help he was getting.  The doctor was advised appropriately that Mark would remain without his Police babysitter and there were two Officers in the observations ward next door if required.  I left. 

I got to the end of the road, less than half a mile away and I’m sent back to the Hospital. A blue light response was designated as a high risk patient had walked out. It was Mark. I arrive and find Mark sat having a smoke. I say, “What’s up Mark, I thought you were sleeping and staying put mate?”  “I was” said Mark, “but they woke me and then said I was able to come outside for a smoke if I wanted. I’m going back in when I’m done”.

By now, my blood is boiling. I go in and speak with the Doctor in private and ask him does he live nearby. He looks bemused and says “Yes, on Leafy Close” which is a lovely area of large detached houses not too far away. “Who’s going to deal with your family if they call to say they are being burgled?” The penny drops and the Doctor apologises. He is frustrated. I am frustrated. The system is not working, and we are enraging each other as a result. Professional courtesy is strained as a consequence and they are niggling at Police and we in return are being over stubborn and awkward with them. It’s not right!

The Doctor and I chat and both learn that we both want the same thing for Mark, who incidentally had since climbed back onto his bed and was drooling as he slept. Within 10 minutes the Doctor had called a specialist unit in another area of Metro. A bed was allocated for Mark in a secure unit and he was listed for immediate assessment – the Doctor had ‘put his foot down’ and insisted. He had resolved the problem and Mark was in the back of my car in no time, as I agreed to convey him to save further delay in waiting for an Ambulance. Job done. 

Now isn’t the end of that situation how you would expect it to work in the first instance? Professional courtesy and a prompt and effective response. All parties happy. The Hospital clear of a potentially difficult patient, The Police free to deal with other calls, and Mark [most importantly] on his way to getting the treatment he needs. 

I know the staff are not to blame here. Please don’t misinterpret this as a moan at the Doctors and Nurses who are under as much pressure [if not more] than the Police. But the system is unbelievable, and we as tax payers are footing for this. 

It’s not a case of asking for preferential treatment by Hospitals to Police. It’s about priorities. If the system wants us to be body armoured babysitters, then fine. But if they want us to be out there catching burglars and thieves and being visible to reduce disorder and assaults then it needs to be a case of priority. In return the Hospital staff and Police wouldn’t end up resenting each other and preventing a smooth service from being delivered.