Improving Police Custodial Healthcare in Yorkshire

Improving Police Custodial Healthcare in Yorkshire featured image
2015-04-29_5540eff6386ae_custodyhealthcare.jpgYorkshire and Humber Commissioning Support’s (YHCS) health and justice team, led by Andrew Stimpson, is approaching the end of a two year programme of transformational change that has redesigned and revolutionised police custodial healthcare in the Yorkshire and Humber region.

Police custodial healthcare has traditionally been the domain of private healthcare companies. In recent years a number of high profile national reports have been critical of police custodial healthcare services and a number of recommendations made, including transferring commissioning responsibility for these services from the police to the NHS. This recommendation was supported by the Department of Health (DoH) and the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO).

In 2013 NHS England commenced operations and the West Yorkshire area team engaged all four Yorkshire and Humber forces to begin the process of addressing the needs of police detainees across the Yorkshire and Humber region.

In West Yorkshire previous attempts had resulted in a fractured relationship with the previous NHS partner. In order to start the process NHS England commissioners worked in partnership with YHCS’s health and justice team, to programme manage the police custody work-stream for all four Yorkshire and Humber police forces.

The outcome In West Yorkshire a re-developed service specification resulted in the appointment of a local NHS provider, the first to secure any police custodial healthcare contract since commencement of the national programme of transition in 2011. This innovative service model involves a partnership with an award-winning third sector organisation and is delivering improved quality, patient experience and outcomes, and greater value for money. The process has been repeated in South Yorkshire, with similar results.

Both North Yorkshire and Humberside Police, the last of the four forces to undertake the process in our region; benefited from a refined specification thanks to lessons learned from the previous roll outs across the region. The partnerships formed during this work continue to have, wider benefits across the region as each force appoint a new provision, and nationally our contribution has been recognised and referenced in the guidance document, Supporting Vulnerable People Who Encounter the Police (Home Office 2014). “As chair of the South Yorkshire Police Healthcare Partnership Board I led a group that was tasked with bringing about the specification and delivery of a new contract that services healthcare needs within police custody. In bringing about this work I have worked closely with NHS colleagues and, in particular, YHCS’s health and justice team. Their experience and expertise was invaluable in delivering the successful healthcare contract that is now in place. Some challenging issues were managed throughout the course of the project with tenacity and good humour from all the team and I am very grateful for the support given.” Rob Odell, Chief Superintendent, South Yorkshire Police
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