Mental Health Assessments: Working with the Police and the Council

A locksmith does all kinds of exciting work, and his repertoire is not limited to bog-standard slam-shuts.

We’re regularly called out by London Borough councils who need assistance on what are known as mental health assessments.

Social workers at the council sometimes encounter people who are a danger to themselves and those around them, and they need to help out these citizens. Not surprisingly, not everybody takes very kindly to others interfering in their lives.

These people—usually patients with mental health issues—avoid meeting social workers or NHS doctors, normally hiding inside their home. In order to provide these patients with the help they need, the council organises a mental health assessment which involves the coming together of a bunch of different people:

First of all, a social worker. London councils invariably employ exceptionally well trained social workers who are enormously friendly and helpful both to patients and colleagues (Metrolocks included). They are there to talk to the patient on their own terms, and to negotiate their coming out.

Then there’s a doctor or other health professional. They supplement the social workers, but are also there to provide any medical care a patient may need.

The Metropolitan Police attend, too, to help out in the event that the patient tries to escape or in case things get messy. These jobs aren’t always risk-free. Depending on the patient’s past history, there might be just a couple or a whole team of officers.

And lastly—and most importantly, of course!—the locksmith. In many cases, the social worker manages to settle everything peacefully from outside the building: the resident will open the door and accept the council’s help. At other times, it’s not so simple and a locksmith is required to open the door.

It’s not always easy for the council to book these jobs. They need four different types of professional from four different organisations to attend the same location at the same time.

It’s especially not always easy for the police to allocate resources in advance. An emergency might come up, meaning they can’t attend, so the assessment falls apart.

Nonetheless, one thing is always certain: Metrolocks can and will show up on time.