Right Care Right Person policy launches

Norfolk Police has today launched the Right Care Right Person (RCRP) policy, which changes how we respond to welfare incidents to make sure the right agency deals with health or social care related calls.

The aim of RCRP is for the right agency and appropriate professionals to deal with health-related calls, rather than police being the default first responder.

RCRP was originally developed in Humberside and has already been running successfully in a number of other forces. It is set to be rolled out across all forces in the UK.

The policy is supported by partnership work between police forces, health providers and the Government, and is recognised by the College of Policing and National Police Chiefs' Council as good practice.

In 2023, Norfolk Constabulary received 22,959 welfare calls (12% of overall demand), with officers attending 12,638 of those calls (55%). These calls would include medical health, mental health and social care related issues.

A review by the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) recently found police officers nationally are spending just under one million hours sat with mental health patients in hospitals waiting for assessment.

The force remains committed to protecting the most vulnerable and will continue to attend incidents where there is a risk to life or serious harm. Where reports do not meet the threshold for police intervention, callers will be signposted to the most appropriate agency.

In February 2024, the constabulary confirmed it had paused the planned launch of the RCRP initiative after the deaths of four people in Costessey in January 2024.

Following this incident and at the request of Norfolk’s Chief Constable Paul Sanford, the then Police and Crime Commissioner requested His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) to inspect the force’s control room, focusing on how 999 calls are handled and responded to.

The constabulary also asked the College of Policing to review its RCRP implementation plans, including its training to officers and staff.

The report by the police inspectorate was published on Friday (24 May) and found that in 99% of calls, control room staff acted appropriately, were polite and professional.

The report identified areas where the force’s response to vulnerability can be improved, something which the constabulary is already addressing through the implementation of RCRP.

Assistant Chief Constable Nick Davison said: “This initiative has always been about getting people in crisis the right care, from the right professional and sometimes this will still be a police officer. We are not turning our back on people who need help.

“However, police officers are not trained medical professionals and where there is a need for medical and mental health support, this is better handled by a trained professional with the right skills and knowledge.”

“Overall, we provide a high level of service in the majority of contact we have with the public in the control room. We commissioned this report to provide the assurance that our operations in the control room were to a good standard and this report has demonstrated that.”

The constabulary estimates that officers will attend around 15% fewer calls relating to concern for welfare, based on findings from other forces already live with RCRP.

Mr Davison added: “While we will attend fewer calls, we still expect to attend around 40% of incidents relating to concern for welfare, which equates to 25 incidents a day, compared to 35 a day.