Teams from both Lancashire & South Cumbria Foundation Trust and Cumbria Police have joined forces to pilot a new service as part of a new mental health scheme.

Following a review on how mental health affects our services, a new service, referred to as the Street Triage Team, will see mental health clinicians and police officers join forces and work together.

This will allow them to respond appropriately to people who have contacted the police and are in mental health crisis.

The new team and service, which will launch in October 2021, will be based at Barrow Police Station and Dane Garth, Furness General Hospital, and will consist of two constables and two mental health nurses, all of which will have undertaken extensive training in mental health triage, as well as risk assessment and safety training.

Steve Christian, Chief Integration Officer at Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust said: “This Street Triage team pilot is an exciting part of wider developments to our services across South Cumbria. We are working closely with our partners to make sure there are easy, clear pathways in place for people in need of ongoing mental health support and assessment.”

Detective Superintendent Dan St Quintin from Cumbria Police said: “Increasingly, we as a police force across South Cumbria are faced with complex situations where people are contacting us and are in mental health crisis, who are potentially putting themselves at risk of harming themselves or others around them.

“By launching this new service we will not only be able to support people in crisis more effectively, making sure they can access the most appropriate care and support at the right time and place, but also protect the people around them and our team who meet who come into contact with them.”