New London pilot pairs nurses with police for crisis response

New initiative sees nurses accompanying London police officers to provide treatment. CTV’s Reta Ismail reports.

A new pilot project in London is pairing police officers with registered nurses to respond to mental health and substance-related calls in real time.

Launched in June, the Nurse Police Response Team is a joint initiative between the London Police Service and London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC).

The goal: bring medical care to people in crisis, right where they are and reduce unnecessary trips to the emergency room or involvement with the justice system.

“There’s a team of ten of us registered nurses from Victoria Hospital, specifically in the emergency department,” said Alanna Hayter, an ER nurse with LHSC. “Our mission is to work alongside our police service partners and to go out in the community and help our clients in their natural environment.”

So far, the team has responded to 148 calls, provided wound care to more than 80 people, and administered naloxone commonly known by the brand name Narcan, during overdose emergencies. Hayter said the experience has been eye-opening.

“This project has obviously been a whole other definition of what it’s like to be on the front line, being on the streets with our clients in their environment, rather than being in the emergency department where we’re most comfortable then acknowledging what their struggles are in the community.”

LHSC officials say the program is already easing pressure on the health system.

“We expect this program to really support avoidable admissions and transfers to our emergency department,” said Deborah Wiseman, LHSC’s vice-president of clinical services and chief nurse executive. “Not that we don’t want people coming to our emergency departments, but many of these particular populations struggle to want to come.”

Police say it’s also a win for frontline officers.

“The feedback that we’ve received from both the police and the registered nurses, as well as those that have actually benefited from the resource, have been very positive,” said Insp. Peter Testa with the Community Mobilization and Support Branch.

Originally operating just two days a week, the program has now expanded to a full seven-day schedule. The pilot is funded through to March 2026.