Right Care Right Person (RCRP) national guidance launched

We've created a toolkit to support police forces when responding to mental health incidents. The toolkit follows a national partnership agreement on using the Right Care Right Person (RCRP) approach as a new way to deal with health incidents.

About RCRP and the toolkit

RCRP involves the police working with partner agencies to identify the most appropriate agency to give vulnerable people the care and support they need.

Our RCRP toolkit – developed with the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) – supports forces in England and Wales to implement RCRP successfully and consistently alongside local partner agencies. It includes guidance on:

• understanding current demand in terms of mental health incidents
• evaluating the impact of RCRP
• communications plan considerations
• the roles and responsibilities of the senior responsible officer (SRO) when implementing RCRP

The toolkit will continue to develop over the coming months with further guidance on operational considerations, training requirements, and local policy development.

While some mental health incidents do require police attendance, there are a significant number that involve no safety risk or crime. The new approach will mean police can focus on attending health incidents where there's a significant safety risk or crime being committed, and refer others to the appropriate partner agency. Estimates show that implementing the principles of RCRP could save around one million police officer hours each year.

The RCRP approach is based on a model developed by Humberside Police in 2021. It has also been implemented by other forces, including Lancashire Police, South Yorkshire Police and North Yorkshire Police.

• Smarter practice example – how RCRP works in practice in Humberside

The public want police catching criminals and protecting them from harm. Attending mental health calls is not always appropriate and these changes will strike a better balance so that the public receives the service they want.  

Police are not trained mental health professionals and the new toolkit will triage incoming calls to police so that the public receives the best response. The toolkit is unique in policing and will offer support and guidance to call handlers when managing mental health, concerns for welfare and missing persons.   

This is a change for policing across England and Wales and the College of Policing will be supporting forces as they focus their efforts on keeping their neighbourhoods safe.

Chief Constable Andy Marsh, College of Policing CEO

About the national partnership agreement

The national partnership agreement sets out the agreement between partnership agencies across England and Wales who are adopting the RCRP approach.

It has been signed by the College of Policing, the Home Office, the Department of Health and Social Care, the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners, the NPCC and the NHS.

We know there are thousands of incidents each year in which police officers are not best placed to provide the specialist expertise and support people need.  

We are now able to put a number on the many hours officers spend waiting with patients in hospital, attending incidents where someone really needed an ambulance or doing welfare checks for individuals under the care of a health agency.  

I do want to reassure our communities that the police will always be here to protect you and will always attend incidents where there is a threat to life. This is not about us stepping away from mental health incidents, it is about ensuring the most vulnerable people receive the appropriate care which we are not always best placed to provide. There’s also evidence that in some instances, police attendance could have a negative impact on the individual, making them feel criminalised when what they need is specialist help.  

Making Right Care Right Person a success relies on close working with our partners in health and social care and we are grateful for their support in both the national partnership agreement and local implementation. We all want to achieve the same goal of ensuring people receive the care and expertise they need from the right agency.  

Deputy Chief Constable Rachel Bacon, NPCC Lead for Mental Health

• Use the RCRP toolkit