A City of London Police officer has praised the Trust’s Mental Health Street Triage (MHST) team for their support of fellow officers and the public.
PC Ricardo Davis has taken to Linkedin to sing the praises of the team after he spent time shadowing them during a placement in October with the Crisis Assessment Hub at the Homerton Hospital's City and Hackney Centre for Mental Health.
"I'm thrilled to share that I was fortunate enough to shadow our fantastic Mental Health Street Triage team of Helen (Nunn) and Alisha (Martin) in their roles at Homerton Hospital.
"As a police officer, I've seen first-hand the importance of mental health support in our communities. It is estimated that officers spend a third of their time dealing with mental health and those in crisis. Alongside this, nearly 15,000 officers were signed off for mental health related reasons in 2023."
He added: "I completed the MHFA (mental health first aid) England course in July and following this I took this initiative and it profoundly highlighted the importance of mental health care - not just for those who we serve, but us as officers, too.
"Mental health is a vital part of overall wellbeing, and I'm proud to play a role in advocating for it. Thank you to the Mental Health Street Triage team, we are so grateful for your invaluable support!"
In July the team received a City of London Police (COLP) Commendation Award for their efforts in the community. They were recognised for their ‘professionalism, commitment and outstanding work supporting members of the public and the COLP through crisis incidents, interventions, and a great support mechanism’.
ELFT NHS Manager Elizabeth Addison helped bring the collaboration to life within her department.
The MHST team said: "We were so pleased to be joined by PC Davis this month. Collaborations like this really demonstrate the importance of partnership work in providing care for the community."
Alisha Martin, PC Ricardo Davis and Helen Mary-Nunn are pictured from left to right in the top image.