section 136-part two

Staffing issues
1 The psychiatric Section 136 facility should ideally have dedicated staffing, or at the very least, a supernumerary post attached to the team responsible for the place of safety.
2 Staffing levels should be sufficient 24 hours a day to ensure that the police can leave promptly after a handover period, even when the patient is disturbed. There should be no expectation that the police will remain until the assessment is completed, as currently happens in some places. In many areas this will require additional resources.
3 There should be a clearly identified person in charge of the psychiatric assessment facility at all times. A member of staff should be present to receive the patient on their arrival.
4 The local implementation group must ensure that there are adequate approved mental health professionals and doctors approved under Section 12 of the Mental Health Act to enable joint assessments to begin within 3 hours currently, with an expectation that, in the longer term, the target will become 2 hours.
5 The description of staff roles, from which competences can be derived, as outlined in this report should be available to assist in commissioning services, the development of local policies and procedures and the provision of appropriate training.
6 Consideration should be given to multi-professional training and the involvement of users and carers in this.

source-Royal College of Psychiatrists