THE message that it is “time to talk” if you are feeling mentally unwell is broadcast through multiple mental health campaigns. And yet there is a scheme spreading throughout the NHS that means that certain people can be prevented from accessing help in a crisis. 

Former police officer Paul Jennings is described as the “innovator” behind the scheme, which he gave the unlikely name Serenity Integrated Mentoring (SIM) and which is now managed through the High Intensity Network (HIN) he set up. 

The approach bears a striking resemblance to an early embodiment of the government’s Troubled Family Scheme where the most “challenging” families, who require support from multiple agencies, are identified with the aim of modifying their behaviour through a mixture of coercion and support – “Family intervention workers make it clear that they have to either take this intensive help or face some tough consequences.” (2012 Annual Report of the Troubled Families Programme).