Right Care Right Person (RCRP) is a framework designed to ensure that when there are concerns for a person’s welfare linked to mental health, medical or social needs, the right person with the right skills, training and experience will respond to provide the best possible service. There will still be occasions in which police involvement is required but going forward, the police should only be involved for as long as is necessary whilst working collaboratively with health and/or social care services.
It is recognised that a police response to mental health need sometimes stigmatises vulnerable people when they are trying to seek help and support for a self-defined crisis. This change in policy will also enable those with mental health needs to receive more timely access to the right support, which will reduce the likelihood of people with mental health needs having a poor experience of accessing mental health pathways. The policy will also allow for the police to deploy resources to incidents where they are most effective and where they have the greatest impact.
The RCRP policy will not impact the use of police powers under the Mental Health Act 1983 (MHA), e.g., detention under section 136. The use of these powers will continue to be at the discretion of the responding officers when on scene. Local partnership arrangements will also be in place whereby police attendance is required to execute section 135 MHA warrants.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) have outlined the decision-making process they will follow when asked to respond to an incident following the implementation of RCRP:
- ‘Is there an immediate risk to life or significant harm,’
- ‘Do we have a legal duty to act,’
- ‘Is there a risk to a child’
- ‘Does a response fall within the core policing principles to protect life, protect property or keep the Kings peace?.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) have engaged with key stakeholders in designing the planned implementation of RCRP. Significant work has been undertaken to understand how best to implement the new policy, whilst assessing the impact it will have on wider Greater Manchester health and social care services.
These summary documents attached, are intended to give a high level view of RCRP and can be used alongside your own training programmes to support the roll-out.
If you have any questions, please feel free to email the RCRP inbox on rcrp@gmp.police.uk
RCRP Stakeholder Comms – What is RCRP
RCRP Stakeholder Comms – Does it fit the bill
RCRP Stakeholder Comms – Missing child from a care home protocol
RCRP Stakeholder Comms – Missing patient protocol
