Olaseni Lewis
28 Jun 2017 · Coroner Selena Lynch · London (South)
The coroner's concerns
1. lack of training on restraint techniques
“officers are not expected to read Standing Operating Procedures and the Officer [name redacted], and there is little "required reading" or ready reference for police officers regarding restraint techniques and dangers”
2. lack of recognition of Acute Behavioural Disturbance
“Officers had been taught about Acute Behavioural Disturbance (ABD) but most did not recognise that Mr [name redacted] was suffering from ABD”
3. inadequate definition of prolonged restraint
“Police were taught that prolonged restraint was dangerous, but had no idea what "prolonged" meant, and were left to use their own judgement”
4. lack of role clarity between healthcare and police
“There was no training or understanding about the respective roles and responsibilities of healthcare and police staff”
5. insufficient medical staff training and availability
“The jury concluded that medical staff requested police assistance due toa lack of trained and physically able medical staff.”
6. failure to meet training targets
“The jury concluded that the Hospital Trust failed to meet training targets”
Responses
2017-0205-Response-by-Metropolitan-Police.pdf ↗· Metropolitan Police
Stated action
“Officers have always been encouraged to read Standing Operational Procedures (SOPs) to help ensure their understanding and compliance with policy and best practice.”
Stated action
“the Officer [name redacted] Programme (OST), which is pass/fail and mandatory for all officers below the rank of superintendent, reinforces each of the significant areas of information during the instructor-led modules.”
Stated action
“The Officer [name redacted], which has now been replaced by the national Personal Safety Manual (owned by the College of Policing), has always been primarily a trainer resource, albeit available to all MPS officers on the MPS intranet.”
Stated action · July this year
“the MPS has reformatted its SOPs into much shorter, and more user-friendly "Toolkits". The "Toolkits" have been designed to make information easier to locate and comprehend.”
Stated action
“The Independent Medical Science Advisory Panel (IMSAP) is an ad hoc panel of leading independent healthcare professionals who advise the National Policing Lead for Personal Safety Training on medical matters relating to physical restraint and self- defence techniques and equipment”
Stated action
“Work in this area includes the production of the 'Safer Restraint DVD by the MPS in partnership with South London and Maudsl”
2017-0205-Response-by-South-London-and-Maudsley-NHS-Trust.pdf ↗· South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust
Stated action · 72 hrs
“Monitoring of training logs for all professional groups When reviewing a Team, Inpatient or CMHT falls below 50% of Place on risk Tier 1 training.”