I have had lots of conversations, emails and indeed tweets over the years with police officers about reliance upon the Mental Capacity Act to justify intervening where other professionals have declared someone to lack capacity about some medical matter or other. Most usually, it is connected with a decision by someone to decline medical care […]

Did you watch Spotlight on 15th February – this is the BBC regional news for south-west England … why would you, unless you live there?! There was interesting coverage of ongoing issues arising from the use of section 136 of the Mental Health Act 1983 by Devon and Cornwall Police. The debate about where should […]

I’m really conscious that there will come a point where the focus on policing and mental health will wane – my view would be, it has already peaked and we need to capitalize on the time we have until the sun sets. During that period, the College of Policing will publish its national guidelines and training, forces […]