82 'near misses' in Police Scotland call handling this year

Since April, there have been 82 "notable incidents" including so-called near misses in Police Scotland call centres, according to files obtained by the BBC under freedom of information legislation.

They reveal staff made errors in the way they handled 999 and 101 calls for incidents about domestic abuse, road accidents and vulnerable children and adults.

Notable incidents are defined as those where the effectiveness of the division is likely to have a "significant impact" on the reputation of the division, Police Scotland or partners, and where lessons could be learnt from the way it was dealt with.

Police said notable incidents accounted for 0.004% of calls received since April, the equivalent of one in every 22,500 calls.

A review of police call handling was carried out by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland (HMICS) in the wake of the deaths of Lamara Bell and John Yuill on the M9 in July 2015.

Ms Bell, 25, lay injured for around 72 hours following the accident in Stirlingshire and later died in hospital.

Her partner Mr Yuill, 28, was killed in the crash, which was reported to police the day it occurred but the call was not followed up.

One of the recommendations in the ensuing HMICS report was that police should "promote an improvement culture where staff are encouraged to report adverse incidents or 'near misses'".

Police Scotland Deputy Chief Constable Johnny Gwynne, crime and operational support, said: "Public contact with the police through 999 and 101 calls and our response to the issues people report to us - often at times of crisis, emergency and need - is critical to the service we deliver.

"We strive to make that service and our response the best it can be and that is why it's vitally important we get it right and learn from issues where management intervention is needed. Fostering a culture where staff feel able to highlight areas for improvement is key to that.

"Since the process began in April 2016, there have been 2.2 million calls from the public. We have excellent, committed staff and officers who receive those telephone calls and who respond on the ground."

He added: "The process for capturing the information was introduced earlier this year following the assurance review into call handling and as the result of specific recommendation made my HMICS. The system was implemented to ensure the service continuously improves how we work and recognises the importance of providing additional training or implementing changes to processes to make our service better.

"The process is fully supported and well-used by our staff who, around the clock, perform a key role in public contact with the service and are a critical element in our front-line response."

The files also included 11 "good work" incidents where examples of good practice by staff were highlighted, the BBC said.

George Graham, a Scottish Police Authority board member, told BBC Scotland: "We are aware that since April and since this process started, there's been about 2.5 million telephone calls in the 999 and the 101 systems, so we're quite clear that this represents a tiny percentage of it, but we're also pretty clear that it's very important; there is a process in place to firstly identify, analyse, and then secondly if there is learning to be gained then the organisation learns from it.

"We are particularly keen to monitor this kind of process and we're delighted to see that there is such a process in place within the police service."

Justice Secretary Michael Matheson said: "Police Scotland has confirmed that notable incidents of this nature account for one in every 22,500 calls they receive.

"Nonetheless, it is quite right that the service has been taking steps to both understand and respond to issues when they arise.

"I am assured that the SPA is continuing to develop robust performance measurement for call handling with Police Scotland, including consideration of notable incidents.

"This will ensure that any wider lessons that need to be are learned and implemented in order to continuously improve the service and promote best practice each and every time. The public would expect no less."

Scottish Labour's justice spokeswoman Claire Baker MSP said: "It only takes one of these near misses to fully slip through the net for another preventable tragedy in Scotland to happen.

"With the memory of the M9 crash and the tragic deaths of Lamara Bell and John Yuill still fresh, these findings are deeply worrying.

"While I appreciate that these are only a small proportion of total calls received by police call centres, simple mistakes such as failing to log the right address could cost lives.

"The public want to feel safe in their own communities and that in a moment of need officers will be there.

"We need full confidence in the 999 and 101 service. We need to be confident that Police Scotland has learned its lessons from the HMICS report into call handling and that their recommendations have been met."

An HMICS spokeswoman said: "HMICS made a recommendation to Police Scotland following our review into call handling to promote an improvement culture and encourage staff to report adverse incidents or near misses. In response to this, Police Scotland introduced processes for recording notable incidents.

"There is always level of risk which must be managed in the operation of police call handling and our notable incident recommendation is crucial to creating a learning environment that improves processes and mitigates against these risks.

"It is essential that staff feel confident to report any notable incidents and that these are properly recorded and assessed by senior managers. These must be used constructively to identify and support both individual and organisational learning and identify good practice.

"At the request of the Cabinet Secretary for Justice, HMICS has been providing ongoing scrutiny of Police Scotland call handling over the last 12 months, including over 50 unannounced visits to call handling facilities across Scotland.

"HMICS is currently assessing the progress made by Police Scotland and the SPA against all our recommendations, including the processes for notable incident reporting. Although there are several areas that could have progressed more quickly, overall progress has been good.

"In addition to the notable incident processes, Police Scotland has progressed our recommendations around quality assurance and complaints handling, again focusing on identifying learning and improvement.

"Our assessment into notable incident reporting involved a detailed examination of Police Scotland's processes and will also include an independent review of each incident reported since these processes were introduced in April 2016. This specifically checks whether each incident has been properly recorded, assessed and whether learning was identified and resulted in improvement.

"We will publish this assessment in our call handling update report in January 2017. This will also be laid before the Scottish Parliament."

The Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (Pirc) has been investigating two of the incidents.

It has submitted its report to the Crown Office in relation to the death of William Brittle, who died on June 7 following an incident in Paisley on June 6.

The Crown Office had instructed the Pirc to carry out an investigation in relation to the initial police response to the incident.

Pirc is also still investigating the police response to an initial report of concern for James Richardson, who died as he was making his way home from T in the Park in July.

Mr Richardson, 29, from Craigneuk, Wishaw, North Lanarkshire, was found dead near the village of Forteviot in Perthshire on July 12.

Scottish Conservative justice spokesman Douglas Ross said: "People expected Police Scotland to sort out call handling after the M9 tragedy last year.

"However, these figures show there are still significant problems and more communities are worried about the further centralisation planned.

"This should serve as a reminder to the Scottish Government that it can't centralise these vital centres which need to be properly resourced and expect the same level of service.

"Public trust in the 101 number is low, and revelations like this will only damage that trust further."

Lib Dem MSP Liam McArthur said: "Government ministers have given the brush off to anyone who raises concerns.

"This new investigation shows that people are right to be concerned.

"The financial problems of Police Scotland and the failure of centralisation need to be tackled.

"The Justice Secretary needs to come to Parliament to explain how the Scottish Government will take additional steps to protect the police service. We need clear actions and a commitment from ministers to provide the financial resources to repair the damage done by their centralisation."