Vulnerable people across Greater Manchester will now get the support they need to improve their health and wellbeing, which will help prevent reoffending.
For the first time in the UK, police and health chiefs have joined forces to provide an integrated healthcare and liaison and diversion service in custody suites, at court and in the community.
Greater Manchester Mayor and Police and Crime Commissioner Tony Lloyd and the Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership have awarded a three year contract to Mitie Care & Custody, in partnership with Cheshire and Greater Manchester Community Rehabilitation Company and 5 Boroughs Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, to provide an integrated Police Custody Healthcare Service and a Liaison and Diversion Service for Greater Manchester.
This means people of all ages who commit, or are suspected of a crime, will be health assessed while in custody and those with mental health issues, learning disabilities, substance misuse or other vulnerabilities will be supported to access appropriate services. The service will also operate in courts.
Greater Manchester Mayor and Police and Crime Commissioner Tony Lloyd said: “If we are to effectively reduce reoffending and protect the vulnerable we need to think innovatively about how we commission services. People who find themselves in a police cell often have underlying health issues that may cause them to offend, such as mental ill health or substance abuse, so it’s common sense to bring police and health together.
“I’m pleased we have appointed the Mitie partnership to deliver this vital service, which will provide a lifeline to thousands of vulnerable people, offering help and support to those who may have previously fallen through the net.”
Lord Peter Smith, Chair of the Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Strategic Partnership Board, said: “This is an excellent example of bringing public service partners together as a new way of commissioning in Greater Manchester in tune with our wider ambition of working better together to deliver better results. By joining things up in this way, we will not just help individuals but also our wider communities by helping reduce reoffending.”
Seb Stewart, Managing Director at Mitie said: “We’re delighted to be working with Greater Manchester health and justice partners, and to have brought together a credible, forward-thinking partnership to deliver fully integrated, innovative services to the police, courts and community of Greater Manchester, supporting better health outcomes for patients, and contributing to a reduction in re-offending.
“This is strategically a very significant contract for Mitie as we expand our presence in the custodial services market. We look forward to building a strong partnership with Greater Manchester over the coming years.”
Chris Edwards, CGM CRC’s Chief Executive, said: “The partnership, which unites the best of the public, private and third sectors, is preparing to deliver an extremely interesting service that very much links into the localism agenda in Greater Manchester.
“We are really excited about being able to develop our expertise in a new area, especially because the work this partnership undertakes will be of direct benefit to the people of Greater Manchester.”
Simon Barber, Chief Executive at 5 Boroughs Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We’re proud to be part of this partnership. Our delivery of the liaison and diversion element of the service across Greater Manchester marks an important stage in our ambition to grow our provision of community, mental health and learning disability services.
“We look forward to building on our knowledge and experience of delivering similar services in Warrington, Halton, Knowsley, St Helens and Wigan to support vulnerable people in Greater Manchester through the criminal justice process.”
These two services have historically been commissioned separately but by coming together, vulnerable people will be able to access a more streamlined service. The information gained will be shared with relevant Youth and Criminal Justice agencies to enable more informed decisions in how to support people to improve their health and vulnerability issues, with the aim to reduce reoffending.
Approximately 134, 000 custody detainees (around 70% of adults and every young person) will be assessed through these services over the three years of the contract. In addition, defendants passing through the court system across Greater Manchester and young people who are not detained in custody will benefit from the services.
The initial contract period is for three years (with the option of a two year extension), with an estimated total contract value of around £15m.
