16.36 The locally agreed policy should contain a list of identified places of safety. The process for identifying the most appropriate place of safety to which a particular person is to be removed should be clearly outlined in the local policy. This should be a hospital or other health-based place of safety where mental health services are provided. Health-based places of safety should ensure that they have arrangements in place to cope with periods of peak demand, for example using other suitable parts of a hospital, neighbouring health-based places of safety, or alternative places of safety.
16.37 Other options which might be appropriate to the individual’s needs should be considered, for example a residential care home or the home of a relative or friend of the person who is willing to accept them temporarily. There is nothing that precludes other areas of a psychiatric hospital (such as a ward) being used as a temporary place of safety, provided that it is a suitable place and it is appropriate to use that place in the individual case.
16.38 A police station should not be used as a place of safety except in exceptional circumstances, for example it may be necessary to do so because the person’s behaviour would pose an unmanageably high risk to other patients, staff or other users if the person were to be detained in a healthcare setting. A police station should not be used as the automatic second choice if there is no local health- based place of safety immediately available.
16.39 If, exceptionally, a police station is used, the locally agreed policy should set out the time within which the appropriate health and social care professionals will attend the police station to assess the person or to assist in arranging to transfer them to a more suitable place of safety.
16.40 Although the Act provides a limit of 72 hours for detention under section 136, when a police station is used as a place of safety in the absence of a health-based place of safety being available, an assessment should be made as quickly as possible and made a priority by the doctor and AMHP (see paragraphs 16.47 and 16.49 below). Alternatively, a transfer to a more appropriate place of safety should be made as soon as one becomes available unless it is clearly in the best interests of the person not to move them. Wherever practicable, detention in a police station under section 136 should not exceed a maximum period of 24 hours.
Police powers and places of safety
16.41 People taken to a health-based place of safety should be transported there by an ambulance or other health transport arranged by the police who should, in the case of section 136, also escort them in order to facilitate hand-over to healthcare staff. 16.42 If, in exceptional circumstances, a police officer needs to take a person to an
emergency department after detaining that person under section 136, for example because emergency medical assessment or treatment is required, the emergency department should provide a safe and suitable place for immediate care for that person. 16.43 In identifying the most appropriate place of safety for an individual, consideration
should be given to the impact that the proposed place of safety (and the journey to it) may have on the person and on their examination and interview. It should always be borne in mind that the use of a police station can give the impression that the person detained is suspected of having committed a crime. This may cause distress and anxiety to the person concerned and may affect their co-operation with, and therefore the effectiveness of, the assessment process. In the event that a person is taken to a police station, it should be clearly explained to them that they are not suspected of any crime or other wrongdoing, and they are being kept there until they can be assessed to see if they need any care or treatment.
16.44 Where an individual is removed to a place of safety by the police, the following apply:
• where the place of safety is a hospital, the police should make contact as soon as is practicable with the hospital and local authority (or the people arranging AMHP services on its behalf) before the person’s arrival at the place of safety. This will allow arrangements to be made for the person to be interviewed and examined as soon as possible. Where a warrant has been issued under section 135, these arrangements should, wherever possible, have been made in advance by the AMHP, the hospital or any other organisation responsible for the person
• where a hospital is used as a place of safety, it is a local decision whether the person is admitted to a bed on arrival or whether that happens only after they have been interviewed and examined
• where a police station is to be used as the place of safety, the police should make contact quickly with the local authority (or its AMHP service) and with an appropriate doctor. This will enable the examination and interview to be conducted as quickly as possible, thus ensuring that the person spends no longer than necessary in police custody before being allowed to leave or taken to hospital. Early assessment will also allow consideration to be given to the possibility of a transfer to an alternative place of safety as soon as this is considered to be safe and appropriate in all of the circumstances
• intoxication (whether through drugs or alcohol) should not be used as a basis for exclusion from places of safety, except in circumstances set out in the local policy, where there may be too high a risk to the safety of the individual or staff. Health- based places of safety should not be conducting tests to determine intoxication as a reason for exclusion, and
• a child or young person should not be taken to a place of safety in a police station unless, having regard to the best interests of the child or young person, there is no suitable alternative available. If this occurs, consideration should also be given to using a different part of a police station or other place under the supervision of a police officer and not a police custody suite.