HELP-PC Phase 4
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The Health Screening of People in Police Custody (HELP-PC) Study: Phase 4 - Evaluation of the implementation of the HELP-PC risk assessment/health screening tool in Northumbria Police.
IRAS ID
260284
Contact name
Iain McKinnon
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Northumberland Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 6 months, days
Research summary
Anyone arrested and taken into custody in England and Wales has to be screened for physical or mental health problems. Prior to 2010, the health screening procedures used by police had not been evaluated. The first phase of the Health Screening of People in Police Custody (HELP-PC) study initially set out to determine the extent to which these screening procedures successfully identified those who required further assessment, treatment, or the involvement of an appropriate adult (HELP-PC phases 1&2). Following this, a new risk assessment (the HELP-PC screen) was developed.
This screening tool was piloted in 2012 in London, and was found to substantially improve the sensitivity and specificity of screening for a number of key health and risk indicators (HELP-PC 3). Following these results, the HELP-PC screening tool was incorporated into Northumbria Police's new Electronic Custody Record in June 2016.
The efficacy and acceptability of this new tool now requires evaluation; we propose to address this issue in this study. It is important as those individuals presenting in police custody are known to have high levels of morbidity, and may not otherwise present to healthcare services. Eligible participants will be those individuals over the age of 18 routinely detained in police custody following arrest. The site(s) of the study will be Northumbria Police custody suites and we estimate the study duration to be 12 months. The participants will complete the HELP-PC screen as usual, but will also be asked to undertake a structured clinical interview with trained psychiatrists. This will be used as the “gold standard” to compare how well the HELP-PC screen is picking up key indicators. Northumbria Police serves a population of 1.5 million people; evaluating the screening tool in this population is therefore necessary to ensure this population is receiving a safe and effective service.REC name
North East - Newcastle & North Tyneside 1 Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/NE/0313
Date of REC Opinion
6 Dec 2019
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion