Essex Mental Health Street Triage Evaluation

Task 

Mental Health Street Triage provides an opportunity for mental health professionals and the police to work in partnership in order to agree on the best outcome for individuals presenting to the police in mental distress. At the time of the project, Street Triage was in its infancy and there was no national operating model; as such, it was very much open to interpretation in terms of implementation and standardisation.   

The OPCC for Essex and the Mental Health Crisis Concordat Programme Board commissioned TONIC to conduct an evaluation of the Essex Mental Health Street Triage programme in order to inform future developments of the service and ensure an efficient use of resources.  

Our Approach 

The core aims of the evaluation were to: 

  • Review the performance of the Essex Street Triage programme and assess the effectiveness and efficiency of the programme.  

  • Undertake a desktop review of other Street Triage programmes outside of Essex, considering good practice and learning.  

  • Complete a qualitative assessment of the impact of the programme on practitioners. 

  • Undertake a value for money assessment of the programme, in relation to resources invested and savings made.  

  • Analyse the impact of the programme in relation to reductions in episodes after Street Triage intervention. 

The qualitative arm of the evaluation involved 39 interviews with professionals across the police and mental health fields, seven interviews with service users and shadowing two street triage shifts. The interviews were semi-structured and were purposed with understanding the individual’s perceptions and experiences of Street Triage, what components work well, and what could be done in the future to improve the scheme.  

Outcome 

As a result of the evaluation, TONIC identified several key themes which were outlined in a detailed and comprehensive report. These findings were broken down into the value of Street Triage and areas for improvement identified by mental health trust staff, police officers and service users. TONIC also included detailed case studies to further evidence the findings. 

As a result of both the qualitative and quantitative findings, TONIC identified 15 areas for consideration. These recommendations included, but were not limited to: 

  • Street Triage should continue within Essex. 

  • Extend the operating hours of Street Triage and add a third car to ensure consistent geographical coverage across the County.  

  • Better data capture is required, such as robust use of the Home Office Toolkit to better understand the impact of Street Triage. 

  • NHS should equip nurses with the ability to access their notes whilst on shift, thus mitigating the challenges of differential systems for criminal justice and health professionals. 

  • Consider allowing paramedics to be involved with the scheme. 

  • Carry protective clothing for the nurses to wear.