Right Care Right Person Northern Ireland: 4 Questions Before 31 October | JustMental
The Right Care Right Person Northern Ireland announcement
The Police Service of Northern Ireland confirmed on UTV News on 2 October 2026 that the Right Care Right Person Northern Ireland implementation will begin on 31 October 2026. Right Care, Right Person is the operational framework under which non-crime mental health incidents are transferred from policing to health service responders. It has already been introduced in England and Wales, where it was intended both to relieve pressure on policing and to ensure that people in acute mental distress are met by a clinically appropriate response.
JustMental has today published this formal statement in response to the Right Care Right Person Northern Ireland announcement, setting out four specific public questions on the operational readiness of the handover. Each question is anchored to a Freedom of Information reference already on the public record.
Where JustMental stands on the model
Right Care, Right Person is a defensible model in principle. The 107a Day Campaign that JustMental launched on 30 June 2026 has argued consistently that policing is not the right response to a person in acute mental health distress, and that the officer time currently being devoted to mental health call-outs is time that should be in the hands of the health service. On that principle, JustMental and the Police Service of Northern Ireland are in agreement.
The question has never been whether Right Care Right Person Northern Ireland is the right model. The question has been whether the receiving health service infrastructure, the operational baseline documentation, and the measurement framework for the handover are in place for safe implementation.
The public record on operational readiness
Between 26 August and 30 September 2026, JustMental received five substantive Freedom of Information responses from the Department of Health and the Police Service of Northern Ireland. A further six Freedom of Information requests are currently on statutory response clocks across all five Health and Social Care Trusts, the Department of Health, and PSNI.
On the record of what has been disclosed so far: the Department of Health confirmed in Freedom of Information response DOH 2026-0189 that routine CAMHS waiting time statistics have been suspended for over 15 months, that no equivalent routine adult mental health publication exists, and that it would not disclose the operational baseline for the Right Care Right Person Northern Ireland implementation. A formal request for internal review of that fifth response remains with the Department.
PSNI confirmed in FOI reference FOI/18565 that it holds no information on the volume of calls currently diverted under the Right Care Right Person framework. These findings sit alongside five years of regulatory warning from the Office for Statistics Regulation in 2021 and the Northern Ireland Audit Office in 2023, both of which identified systemic gaps in Northern Ireland’s mental health data infrastructure.
Right Care, Right Person is the right model. On the public record of what the responsible institutions have been willing to disclose, Northern Ireland is not yet ready to safely implement it.
Four questions before 31 October
JustMental is today putting four specific operational questions on the public record. Each is anchored in disclosed FOI material, each is reasonable, and each can be answered publicly before 31 October 2026.
- To the Minister of Health: will the Department of Health publish, before 31 October 2026, the operational baseline for Right Care Right Person Northern Ireland implementation that was requested under DOH 2026-0189 and refused, and that remains the subject of the formal internal review currently with the Department?
- To the Chief Constable: will PSNI commit, before 31 October 2026, to publishing month-by-month data on the volume of concern-for-safety calls diverted to health service responders, given that FOI/18565 confirmed in writing that no such information is currently held?
- To the Minister of Health and the Chief Constable jointly: what measurement framework has been agreed to ensure that if ambulance response-time risks of the kind voiced on UTV News by PIPS Charity materialise after 31 October, the operational model is reviewed and if necessary paused?
- To the Chair of the Health Committee: will the Committee convene a scrutiny session with the Minister of Health, PSNI, and the Public Health Agency before 31 October 2026 to publicly test the readiness of the receiving health service infrastructure?
What happens next
Between now and 31 October 2026, six further Freedom of Information responses are due to land across the Department of Health internal review, the PSNI refined request submitted 24 September 2026, and the five Health and Social Care Trusts. JustMental will report publicly on each as it is received.
The four weeks between now and the Right Care Right Person Northern Ireland implementation date are the window in which operational readiness can be confirmed in public, or in which the implementation date should be reviewed. JustMental speaks today in support of the frontline voices already making the clinical-safety case, including PIPS Charity and the Northern Ireland Mental Health Champion Professor Siobhán O’Neill, whose longstanding call for urgent investment in crisis services remains the central context for this entire conversation.
Spokesperson:
Karl Bennett, Co-Founder, JustMental
info@justmental.net | justmental.net
This is not wellness. This is war against stigma.
Crisis support
If reading this has been difficult, or if you or someone you know needs to talk, please reach out. Support is available.
Lifeline (Northern Ireland) · 0808 808 8000 · freephone, 24/7 ·
Samaritans · 116 123 · freephone, 24/7 · [LINK: Samaritans — external]
Childline · 0800 1111 · free, for children and young people ·
SHOUT · Text SHOUT to 85258 · free, 24/7 text support
CALM · 0800 58 58 58 · 5pm to midnight, every day
This is not wellness. This is war against stigma.
Why October Mental Health Awareness Matters to Everyone
ADHD, menopause and domestic abuse can look like very different subjects. What they share is that each can affect a person’s mental health, and each is still surrounded by silence, stigma or misunderstanding.
They also reach far beyond the person directly affected. Partners, parents, children, friends and colleagues all feel the impact. All of us have a part to play in noticing when someone is struggling and making it easier to talk. That is what October mental health awareness is really about.
World Mental Health Day: Saturday 10 October
At the centre of October mental health awareness is World Mental Health Day. It was founded in 1992 by the World Federation for Mental Health (WFMH), which sets the theme each year.
The 2026 theme is “Lived Experiences Heard: Real Voices, Real Change”. The WFMH is encouraging organisations around the world to hold events that reflect the theme, while also supporting the World Health Organization’s work on deinstitutionalisation.
The theme sits close to the heart of what we do. JustMentalTalk exists to give people with lived experience the space to be heard, including our conversation with members of the Northern Ireland Survivor Council
ADHD Awareness Month
ADHD Awareness Month runs throughout October. It began as a single ADHD Awareness Day in 2004 and grew into a month as more organisations became involved. What started in North America is now marked by organisations across Europe, including the UK.
ADHD is often thought of as a childhood condition, but many adults seek a diagnosis later in life. For some, that comes after years of struggling with concentration, organisation or their mental health without knowing why.
If you think ADHD may be affecting you or your child, speaking to your GP is the usual first step. The charity ADHD UK also offers information and support.
Menopause Awareness Month and World Menopause Day
October is also widely marked as Menopause Awareness Month, with World Menopause Day on Sunday 18 October. The day was founded by the International Menopause Society (IMS), which chooses a theme every year.
This year’s theme is “Chronic Pain at Midlife”. The IMS says chronic pain affects a significant proportion of women during and after the menopause transition, yet it is still underestimated in both research and care.
There is a clear link to mental health here. IMS President Professor Rossella Nappi has warned that women’s pain has too often been labelled “emotional” rather than properly investigated and treated. Not being believed can take its own toll.
Menopause is not only a conversation for women, and it belongs firmly within October mental health awareness. Partners, families and employers all have a part to play in understanding what is happening and offering support. The IMS has free World Menopause Day resources for women and anyone interested in midlife health.
Domestic Abuse Awareness Month
The UK does not have a nationally recognised Domestic Abuse Awareness Month, but October is widely used by councils, police forces and charities to raise awareness and promote support.
Domestic abuse can happen to anyone, regardless of age, gender or background. It is not always physical. It can also be emotional, financial or sexual, or take the form of controlling and coercive behaviour.
In Northern Ireland, the 24-hour Domestic and Sexual Abuse Helpline is there for anyone affected. Call 0808 802 1414 or email help@dsahelpline.org. Men can also contact the ManKind Initiative on 0808 800 1170.
What’s Coming Up on JustMental This October
Throughout the month, our October mental health awareness coverage will include articles on each of these moments, alongside new episodes of JustMentalTalk.
On Thursday 15 October at 4pm, we release our conversation with Sir Norman Lamb, former Health Minister, NHS trust chair and author of Be More Human: How We Can Fix Our Broken Mental Health Services.
To get every piece as it is published, sign up to The JustMental Insider, our newsletter, which lands every Tuesday.
Where to Find Support
Awareness months can bring up difficult feelings, and October mental health awareness is no exception. If you are struggling, you do not have to wait for an awareness day to reach out.
Lifeline, Northern Ireland’s crisis response helpline, is available 24 hours a day, every day, on 0808 808 8000 (textphone 18001 0808 808 8000). Calls are free for people living in Northern Ireland from UK landlines and mobiles.
If you or someone else is in immediate danger, call 999.
October mental health awareness is a reminder, not a finish line. The conversations that start this month can carry on all year, and we hope you will be part of them.
