75,000 people across Scotland helped by mental health crisis project piloted in Inverness and Aberdeen
A lifesaving initiative that was pioneered in Inverness has helped 75,000 people experiencing mental health crisis across Scotland.
The Distress Debrief Intervention Service (DBI) was launched as a pilot seven years ago in Inverness, Aberdeen, Lanarkshire and the Borders.
And since then around 1700 police officers across Scotland have been trained to spot the signs of people who are experiencing mental health distress and then point them to the right agency for the support they need.
Partners in the Scottish Ambulance Service and within the NHS at the likes of A&Es and NHS 24 have also undertaken training within the initiative. These “level one” DBI providers can then identify when someone is in distress and make a referral to the appropriate third sector organisation which can provide compassionate and personalised support.
The initiative also has “level two” providers, who are commissioned and trained third sector staff who contact the person within 24-hours of referral and provide community-based support, wellness and distress management planning and more.
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And the scheme has grown so successful that this week it was confirmed that all 31 health and social care partnerships across Scotland’s 14 health board have now signed up to it.
The news emerged when Police Scotland’s assistant chief constable Catriona Paton met MSP Jenni Minto, the minister for public health and women’s health this week.
ACC Catriona Paton said: “Policing is often the first response when people need help. Our mission is to keep people safe and we’ll always respond to threat, harm and risk to ensure public safety
“Our involvement in mental health incidents and supporting vulnerable people has a significant impact on this organisation and is beyond where policing should be. That’s not the best support for those who need help and it’s not delivering best value for the public.
“DBI enables trained officers to identify when someone needs support and signpost them to the right service, allowing them to redirect to tackling threat, harm and risk and preventing crime.”
Police Scotland’s chief constable Jo Farrell has also set up a Mental Health Taskforce to co-ordinate work as part of Operation Evolve.
Distress Brief Intervention is an important part of this work, and a training model is now in place to train more officers as and when required.
ACC Paton continued: “This work is a key element of the Chief Constable’s vision for the future of policing in Scotland and we continue to work on resetting the parameters of our contribution to a system wide approach to mental health.
“We are committed to collaborating with our partners to provide better outcomes for individuals and the communities we serve, at better value to the public, ensuring our frontline officers are able to focus more of their time on core policing duties.”
