title: Too much detention? Street Triage and detentions under Section 136 Mental Health Act in the North-East of England: a descriptive study of the effects of a Street Triage intervention.
abstract: To describe the impact of Street Triage (ST) on the number and rate of Section 136 Mental Health Act (S136) detentions in one NHS Mental Health and Disability Trust (Northumberland, Tyne and Wear (NTW)).
  
  
  
  Comparative descriptive study of numbers and rates of S136 detentions prior to and following the introduction of ST in NTW. More detailed data were obtained from one local authority in the NTW area.
  
  
  
  NTW, a secondary care NHS Foundation Trust providing mental health and disability services in the north-east of England, in conjunction with Northumbria Police Service.
  
  
  
  People being detained under S136 Mental Health Act (MHA). Routine data on S136 detentions and ST interventions were obtained from NTW, Northumbria Police, Sunderland Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Sunderland Local Authority.
  
  
  
  Introduction of a ST service in NTW. The main outcome measures were routinely collected data on the number and rate of ST interventions as well as patterns of the numbers and rates of S136 detentions. These were collected retrospectively.
  
  
  
  The annual rate of S136 detentions reduced by 56% in the first year of ST (from 59.8 per 100 000 population to 26.4 per 100 000). There was a linear relationship between the rate of ST in each locality and the reduction in rate of S136 detentions. There were 1623 ST contacts in the first 3 localities to have a ST service during its first year; there were also 403 fewer S136 detentions. Data from Sunderland indicate a 78% reduction in S136 use and a significant reduction in the number and proportion of adult admissions that originated from S136 detentions.
  
  
  
  There is evidence to support the hypothesis that ST decreases the rate of s136 detention. When operating across the whole of NTW, ST resulted in 50 fewer S136 detentions a month, which represents a substantial reduction.
authors.affiliation: Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Trust, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.|Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Keown
authors.affiliation: Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
authors.forename: Jo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: French
authors.affiliation: Street Triage, Northumbria Police, Ponteland, UK.
authors.forename: Graham
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gibson
authors.affiliation: Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Trust, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
authors.forename: Eddy
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Newton
authors.affiliation: Sunderland City Council, Sunderland, UK.
authors.forename: Steve
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cull
authors.affiliation: Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Trust, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.affiliation: Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Trust, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
authors.forename: Jo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Parry
authors.affiliation: Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Trust, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
authors.forename: Diana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lyons
authors.affiliation: Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Trust, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.|Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
authors.forename: Iain
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-5760-9824
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: McKinnon
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003134:Commitment of Persons with Psychiatric Disorders / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000628:therapy; D008603:Mental Health / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013222:State Medicine; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014218:Triage / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006113:United Kingdom; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: MENTAL HEALTH