Call for Sarah Jones MP to urgently request a formal, independent evaluation of the 'Right Care, Right Person' policy, alongside quicktime internal review on whether the "immediate risk to life" training is correct for police forces across the UK.

 

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Our beautiful, big hearted Robin died from suicide in February 2025. He had presented in mental health crisis from 16th January 2025, where he was initially found at a suicide hotspot - the Humber Bridge. The police were called and attended, however did not utilise their powers under the Mental Health Act 1983 and apply section 136, despite the recommendation to do so from mental health services. 

 

Robin was desperately trying to access support from his GP; from the crisis team; and from mental health charities. He faced additional barriers and challenges in accessing support at every turn. Robin's suicidal ideation and intent escalated quickly from 16th January 2025 and there were numerous instances where he was at immediate risk of serious harm and death. These incidents were reported to the police and emphasis placed upon his vulnerability, resistance, and his expressed verbal, written, and filmed intent to end his life.

 

The response from Humberside Police was to repeatedly quote the 'Right Care, Right Person' policy and deflect calls to the ambulance service, who have no legal power to take decisive safeguarding action, and thus Robin was continually denied the opportunity to access an in depth mental health assessment and support. When Robin was found a second time on the wrong side of the railings on the Humber Bridge, having walked miles from his home in the cold, dark, and rain, officers again failed to implement section 136, instead sending him on his way. 

 

Robin died at home on 24th February 2025. His death was preventable, and has left an irreplaceable void in the lives of those who knew and loved him. 

 

Suicide and mental health are complex subjects that have varying route causes from person to person. Statistically, suicide costs the UK economy over £9 billion per year (as of 2022) - I suspect the figure is higher in the present day. The trauma experienced by those left behind is nothing but harrowing, and it is a sentence those bereaved by suicide live with for the rest of their lives. The "what ifs" are like knives that don't stop coming, despite you still living. 

 

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In 2019 Humberside Police developed an operational policy 'Right Care, Right Person' with the primary focus of reducing the time officers spend attending calls for mental health crisis. The idea being that the police are not the right people to attend, and those experiencing ill mental health would be better supported by trained professionals. The policy was quickly hailed a success in cost saving and resource, despite no statistical analysis or quantitative data ever having been scrutinised. Moreover, the health outcomes for those directly impacted by the policy have never been assessed.

 

On paper, the policy purports officers will continue to attend Article 2 and 3 incidents. That is where there is a real and immediate risk to the life of a person, and a real and immediate risk of a person being subject to serious harm or other inhumane treatment. Rabone & Anon v Pennine Care NHS Foundation (2012) sets precedence in relation to the meaning of "immediate risk to life". The ruling stated the "imminence" of a person's supposed death is not the issue at hand; it was whether there was "a real and immediate risk to life which is present and continuing." For clarity, real and immediate meant a risk of death that was not a "remote or fanciful" risk of death where the duty owed was immediate. 

 

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The Mental Health Act 1983 affords police officers legal power under section 136 to detain a person in a public space if they believe they have a mental disorder and are in need of immediate care or control. Under section 135 of the Mental Health Act 1983 the police have powers to enter a private residence to take someone to a place of safety for assessment, although a warrant must be applied for from the court first. Of paramount importance - the police are the ONLY public servants with these legal powers relating to mental health crisis emergencies. 

 

Whilst the principles of 'Right Care Right Person' recognise that police presence can aggravate those in mental health crisis for varying reasons, as of September 2025 there has been no legal transference of power to any other emergency service enabling them to take decisive safeguarding action, leaving the police as the only option for primary response.

 

Despite this, the policy is being widely misused by forces across the UK. In Robin's case, risk was downplayed despite serious harm and risk of death being evidenced across calls to Humberside Police control room. Thus far, there are seventeen inquests that make reference to 'Right Care Right Person', and fifteen reports to prevent future deaths from coroners. At the time of writing, none of these have been evaluated for any formal learning.

 

'Right Care Right Person' is marketed as a compassionate and well intentioned operational policy that will also save the tax payer money and improve police effectiveness. A consequence of it has been that it has created a culture within policing that sees all mental health crisis and jobs as another agency responsibility, and a level of disdain toward desperate family and friends calling for help. The rhetoric that mental health has nothing to do with policing and policing is solely about solving and prosecuting crime is a falsehood that has continued to gain traction at alarming rates. Policing from its origins has always dealt with social issues; you cannot police a population without being involved with ill mental health in some way, shape, or form.

 

Whilst there is merit in police time being freed up for calls that do not meet an Article 2 or 3 threshold, the understanding of those incidents is not universally defined and understood across forces, leaving the policy open to interpretation, misuse, and ultimately in the most serious circumstances, leaving vulnerable people at risk of serious harm and death, as has been evidenced with Robin.

 

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Without formal, independent evaluation of the 'Right Care Right Person' policy, misuse and misinterpretation of the police's legal duty to protect life will continue. There will be more preventable deaths to suicide, and the culture within policing that risk to life via ill mental health is simply not their problem will remain unchallenged.

 

This petition is calling for the Minister of State for Policing and Crime Prevention to trigger a formal, independent evaluation of the 'Right Care, Right Person' policy to assess it's effectiveness and impact upon the public. Additionally, the petition is calling for urgent internal review on whether the current training on "immediate risk to life" is correct and in line with legal threshold - Rabone & Anon v Pennine Care NHS Foundation (2012). Any remedial training must then be delivered nationwide.

 

The country does not need more families like mine. Where suicide can be prevented, it should be. Mental ill health does not discriminate; it could be anyone's loved one and anyone's family in the same situation we have found ourselves in. Vulnerable people deserve support.