Documentary series featuring Nottinghamshire Police street triage team in line for Bafta award

A documentary series featuring an episode where Nottinghamshire Police’s street triage team helped save a woman in extreme distress is in line for a prestigious Bafta award.
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

Channel 4 film crews joined the team in summer 2019 to demonstrate how police and healthcare professionals from the Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust work alongside each other to provide more joined-up support to members of the public who come into contact with police after they have experienced mental health issues.

In the episode – which was part of the Losing It: Our Mental Health Emergency series – team members PC Rich Boam and Linda Pert, a community mental health nurse for Nottinghamshire Heathcare, help a woman who attended hospital and told them she was hearing voices telling her to take her own life or hurt other people.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

They talked to her and used their expert skills to reassure her they wanted to help and were taking her threats seriously.

PC Rich Boam and community mental health nurse, Linda Pert. Photo: Nottinghamshire Police.PC Rich Boam and community mental health nurse, Linda Pert. Photo: Nottinghamshire Police.
PC Rich Boam and community mental health nurse, Linda Pert. Photo: Nottinghamshire Police.

After speaking to her, they made sure she was ok and returned home safely to her worried partner who had called police earlier asking for their help.

PC Boam said: “Being involved in the documentary was completely different to anything else I’ve ever done before but it was enjoyable.

“The episodes have been really impactful and seem to have been really well-received by the public, particularly as it gives them an insight into the reality of what mental healthcare looks like.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“Mental health is generally talked about much more these days and it’s a topic that’s entering more and more in the public conscience as a result.

"That has been really helpful in raising the profile of mental health and in showing the range of services that are in-place to support people who are living with a mental health condition.”

The episode – which can still be watched via the channel’s All 4 video on demand service – is the fourth in the Losing It: Our Mental Health Emergency series that has now been shortlisted for a Bafta award in the factual series category.

The series is up against three other category nominees at the awards ceremony, which will be held on June 6.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Sgt Anthony Horsnall, mental health coordinator at the force and who has been presented with a High Sheriff medal for the team’s work, said: “It’s fantastic that the episode featuring the team has received national recognition and contributed to the success of this series which has now been nominated for a Bafta award.

“This series placed a much-needed focus on what is an incredibly important and complex issue and now it has been shortlisted for such a top honour I hope it will help shed even more light on the support which is available to people living with mental health issues.

“I’m hugely proud of the ongoing work that our team does with our partners to support people at a time of mental health crisis. If you are struggling, and particularly if you have suicidal thoughts, I urge you to seek help. There is support available and you are not alone.”