The formal transfer of care between police and frontline healthcare staff for people in mental health crisis, known as handovers, are often challenging due to complex needs and shared responsibility. This research in London emergency departments will explore how these transfers are managed and identify ways to improve coordination, patient care, and staff safety.
Violence and abuse toward healthcare staff is widespread in emergency departments, and police handovers of people in mental health crisis create particularly complex challenges. These transfers can involve unclear responsibilities, differences in professional priorities, and variation in hospital procedures, which can increase operational risks and tension between police and healthcare staff.
Small studies have highlighted role ambiguity, the growing involvement of hospital security, and the need for improved collaboration and training. However, very little research has systematically examined how handovers are conducted in practice, how staff experience them, or how procedural differences across hospitals affect safety and operational outcomes.
Understanding these dynamics is especially timely given initiatives such as Right Care, Right Person, which aim to reduce police involvement in mental health incidents. This research will gather empirical evidence on real-world handovers and capture the perspectives of both police and healthcare staff to understand current practices, challenges, and risks.
This project seeks to make police-healthcare handovers of patients in mental health crises safer and more effective. By doing so, it aims to improve patient outcomes and protect staff from harm. Specific objectives include:
- Examine how police-Emergency Department (ED) handovers are conducted in practice, including real-time interactions and organisational contexts.
- Identify differences in handover practices across hospitals and explore what works well and where challenges arise.
- Capture perspectives from both police and healthcare staff on roles, responsibilities, and experiences during handovers.
- Assess the impact of the Right Care, Right Person initiative on handover processes and collaboration.
- Ensure the experiences of diverse patient groups, including neurodivergent individuals and people from minority backgrounds, are considered.
- Develop co-produced recommendations to improve coordination, patient care, staff safety, and operational efficiency.
A qualitative approach will be used, combining ethnographic observation, interviewing police and ED staff, and reviewing hospital data. Observations and interviews will capture real-world handovers, focusing on professional interactions, communication, and operational processes. Data will be analysed thematically, with insights discussed in workshops with police and NHS staff to inform co-produced recommendations.
Lead investigator
- Dr Hanna Paalgard Munden (Coventry University)
Co-investigator
- Professor Paul Martin (Coventry University)
Project partners
- NHS South East London – Integrated Care Board
- Metropolitan Police: Lambeth & Southwark
