Telephone street triage : a service user perspective

Carson, C

Abstract

In the last fifteen years Accident and Emergency (A & E) departments have become the default environment for service users seeking help during a mental health crisis. Simultaneously, the Police have reported concerns about the expectations placed on their officers in dealing with the rising numbers of people experiencing a mental health crisis. In 2014 the Home Office launched The Crisis Care Concordat requiring statutory and non-statutory organisations to make a commitment to work together to ensure a seamless pathway for anyone who experiences a mental health crisis, regardless of their first contact with services. To facilitate this many new initiatives were developed, Street Triage being one. This allows the police immediate access to a mental health professional when they find themselves attending an incident or event that has a mental health component. Whilst there is an emerging body of research focusing on the organisational and financial benefits to such services, there is limited research regarding the experience of the service user utilising such services. The aim of this study was to explore and understand the experiences of service users, who when experiencing a mental health crisis were treated by the Street Triage Service. Qualitative research, using a narrative approach was used to address this aim. Data were collected through one to one narrative interviews with three service users. Interview transcripts were initially analysed as individual stories, and then as a collective, recognising the nuances of each narrative and also exploring the cross commonalities. While each narrative had its own unique themes some, shared commonalities were also identified. These included; (1) Learning from their own experiences, (2) Perceiving and interacting with blue light services and (3) Interacting with the Street Triage team. Individuals who have experienced a mental health crisis and used the Street Triage service offer a wealth of knowledge that not only contributes to the emerging body of research in this area, but also enables the development of such services in better meeting the needs of those who may require such services in the future.

Citation

Carson, C. (in press). Telephone street triage : a service user perspective. (Thesis). University of Salford

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Acceptance Date: Dec 14, 2018
• Deposit Date: Dec 18, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 18, 2019