Improving how we respond to the most vulnerable

At Warwickshire Police, we are committed to protecting our communities from harm and, as part of this, we have been working partners in health and social care to test and agree a new approach to responding to calls to make sure vulnerable people receive care from the most appropriate agency.   

Policing has traditionally responded to a broad range of incidents but this does not mean we are always the right agency to respond.  

The new national initiative - Right Care Right Person (RCRP) – provides a framework for assessing when we should respond to incidents involving people with health needs and when we should refer to partners in healthcare who are best placed to offer help and support to vulnerable people.  

Every call to the control room will continue to be assessed under THRIVE principles (Threat, Harm Risk, Investigation, Vulnerability, Engagement) and RCRP will not stop us attending incidents where there is a threat to life.   

But the new approach means we stop attending health incidents unless there is a significant safety risk or a crime being committed.  

Instead, we will refer these to the more appropriate health services some people need.

It means that the right agency with the right skills, training and experience will respond when there are concerns for someone’s welfare linked to mental health or a medical issue. 

There will be four phases of RCRP that we will roll out in 2024, starting with AWOL from health or mental health establishment from 5 February. Transportation of mental health patient, concern for welfare and Section 136 (waiting with detainees at place of safety) will follow later in the year.  

Chief Superintendent Mike Smith said: “As we face ever-increasing demand for policing, it is important that we prioritise tackling criminality and the RCRP approach will support this.  

“We are working closely with partners to phase the introduction of RCRP in Warwickshire and we will make sure that the needs of people experiencing health and mental health concerns will be met effectively under RCRP.”