PCD 1850 Mental Health Form 434

The purpose of this paper is to adopt the changes identified in the MPS’s current mental health referral process to increase its efficiency and effectiveness by improving data monitoring metrics to support additional insight and resource the planning work, providing real-time data to allow central team monitoring and support operational officers, removing barriers to handover of the form 434 to NHS partners. 

The Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime, via the Investment Advisory and Monitoring meeting (IAM), is asked to:  

• Approve the initiation and award for a contract for the digitised mental health referral process (form 434), including Section 136 of Mental Health Act (MHA) and Sections 5 & 6 of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) to Thalamos, over a maximum term of 4 years – comprised of an initial term of 3 years plus an optional extension of 12-months via the G-Cloud 14 Framework.   

• Approve the revenue costs for implementation and ongoing running of the service, to be funded from the Mental Health Project Budget, held by Frontline Policing business group. The primary use of this budget is to support the development of data and digital technology to assist with continuous improvement in relation to Mental Health. 

PART I - NON-CONFIDENTIAL FACTS AND ADVICE TO THE DMPC 

1. Introduction and background  

1. The purpose of this paper is to support and improve the current mental health referral process. The initial roll-out of the online Mental Health Application has been successful, delivering the proposed benefits, improving Insight and Analytics (I&A) and improving resource management and utilisation.   

2. The use of the application has identified areas for development such as improved data monitoring & live time data to support operational officers and remove barriers to the handover of the form to the NHS partners.  

2. Issues for consideration  

1. Mental Health incidents represent a significant level of demand on operational policing.  

2. Based on business feedback, the current product has achieved the following:  

1.  Removed the use of paper forms.  

2. Successfully reduced the number of unnecessary hours officers spend on each case.  

3. Reduced errors and improved hand-over processes between MPS and the NHS.  

4. Identified areas for improvement and enhancement to improve the current service.  

3. Through use of the current service, additional developments have been identified which will provide better information for decision-making and improve the process. To deliver these identified improvements the service will need to be recommissioned to include the enhancements.  

4. Bespoke enhancements are needed to reduce the average time officers are involved in Section 136 incidents prior to handing over to NHS partners.  This will be achieved by providing real-time status of in-flight incidents, improve handover processes and enhance dashboard functionality.   

5. The remainder of this information is contained in the restricted section of the report.  

6. NMfL outlines the need for ‘Right Care, Right Person’ to be supported, with acknowledgement that officers, while skilled and compassionate, are not trained mental health professionals and so are unable to provide the best response to individuals suffering a mental health crisis. The recommissioning and enhancement of the digital referral process application would support this strategic goal.  

7. This paper supports the Police & Crime Plan by ensuring that officers can quickly and efficiently hand over members of the public requiring mental health care to the NHS, allowing them to return to their operational duties.   

3. Financial Comments  

1. This project is to be funded from within the MOPAC budget for Mental Health, held by the Mental Health Project within Frontline Policing.  

4. Legal Comments 

1. The Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime is a Contracting Authority as defined in the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (“the Regulations”). All awards of public contracts  

for goods and/or services valued at £213,477 (inclusive of VAT) or above will be procured in accordance with the Regulations.   

2. The MOPAC Scheme of Delegation and Consent provides the Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime (“DMPC”) with authority to approve business cases for revenue or capital expenditure of £500,000 and above (paragraph 4.8).   

3. Paragraph 7.23 of the Scheme provides that the Director of Strategic Procurement has consent for the approval of the award of all contracts, with the exception of those called in through the agreed call in procedure. Paragraph 4.14 of the Scheme provides the DMPC reserves the right to call in any MPS proposal to award a contract for £500,000 or above. 

4. As this is an extension of an existing service this work does not change any aspects relating to legal considerations.  

5. Commercial Issues  

1. Commercial have recommended the direct award to Thalamos of a three year with 1 x 12-month optional extension for the Digitised Mental Health Referral Process (Form 434), including Section 136 of Mental Health Act (MHA) and Sections 5 & 6 of Mental Capacity Act (MCA), through the PCR 2015 compliant G-Cloud 14 Framework. Best value will be achieved by building on the existing form. Due to system similarities, any implementation costs will be minimal and there will be minimal service design considerations. There will also be minimal conversion training required.  

2. Social Value considerations will be as per the Framework.  The Pegasus contracts commenced in 2021 following a comprehensive competition process, and so represent the most cost-efficient rates for services utilised. The supplier has recently onboarded to the G-Cloud 14 Framework, however pricing has been honoured as per the quotation supplied to the MPS prior.   

3. The remainder of this information is contained in the restricted section of this paper.  

6. GDPR and Data Privacy   

1. The MPS is subject to the requirements and conditions placed on it as a 'State' body to comply with the European Convention of Human Rights and the Data Protection Act (DPA) 2018. Both legislative requirements place an obligation on the MPS to process personal data fairly and lawfully in order to safeguard the rights and freedoms of individuals.   

2.  Under Article 35 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Section 57 of the DPA 2018, Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIA) have become mandatory for organisations with technologies and processes that are likely to result in a high risk to the rights of the data subjects.  

3.  The Information Assurance and Information Rights units within MPS will be consulted at all stages to ensure the project meets its compliance requirements.  

4.  A DPIA has been completed for the initial part of this project (ref: CYC01 / DPA / 21 / 001194). DPIAs support the accountability principle, as it will ensure the MPS complies with the requirements of GDPR and they demonstrate that appropriate measures have been taken to ensure compliance.  

7. Equality Comments   

1. MOPAC is required to comply with the public sector equality duty set out in section 149(1) of the Equality Act 2010. This requires MOPAC to have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations by reference to people with protected characteristics. The protected characteristics are: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation. 

2. As this is an extension of an existing service, this work does not change any aspects relating to equality or diversity.  

8. Background/supporting papers 

None.