Ethical concerns over Vulnerability Support Hubs

A new report from Medact has revealed that thousands of individuals suspected of potential ‘extremism’ have been assessed by Vulnerability Support Hubs, in which mental health professionals collude with counterterrorism police officers.

The report says that the hubs have become a permanent feature of the UK counter terrorism apparatus since they were introduced to trial a national ‘vulnerability support service’ in 2016 and are now established in three regions – the north, Midlands and south.

However, the Racism, mental health & pre-crime policing report shows how the hubs blur the boundaries between security and care.

Among the ethical concerns are the use of NHS mental health professionals within regional counterterrorism police units to help conduct ‘combined’ mental health and terrorism risk assessments, as well as the use of a ‘consultancy’ model which appears to allow police to circumvent normal confidentiality expectations.

Medact also found that a racialised Muslim is at least 23 times more likely to be referred to a mental health hub for ‘Islamism’ than a white British individual is for ‘Far Right extremism’, and warns that the hubs were substantially premised on dubious associations between mental health and terrorism and exacerbate this stigmatising assumption.