GMMH Tactical Advice Service (MHTAS) delivers training to over 2000 Greater Manchester Police officers | News and Events

The Greater Manchester Mental Health Tactical Advice Service (MHTAS) consists of a small team of Senior Mental Health Practitioners based within the Greater Manchester Police (GMP) Control Room to provide real-time clinical advice to police officers via telephone for them to make more informed decisions when dealing with members of the public in potential crisis.

MHTAS is available 24/7, 365 days a year and works with local mental health and emergency services to ensure that mental vulnerability is considered, triaged and high-quality information and clinical advice is provided when an individual comes to the attention of, Greater Manchester Police and it is believed that they may be experiencing mental health crisis and require support.

The team was formed in 2018 and covers ten boroughs across Greater Manchester (5 within GMMH and 5 within Pennine Care regions), they work to assist officers by consulting mental health records, talking to the individual in crisis or considering the alternatives to Section 136 and attending at A&E. They can advise on Mental Health Joint Response Vehicle (MHJRV) availability and the opening hours of local crisis cafes, recovery lounges and safe havens.

MHTAS managers have been delivering training sessions to officers to educate them about their role, how they can support officers on scene and why they are needed, which includes:

• Police are reporting nationally that up to 80% of their workload now has a mental health component.
• To work collaboratively and provide an integrated service to improve health and social care outcomes for Greater Manchester residents in contact with GMP.
• To support early intervention, early access to appropriate crisis care, and to provide more timely access to other health, social care and third sector services.
• To reduce GMP police staff time spent at mental health related incidents, reducing S136 and voluntary attendance at A&E and encouraging the use of safe spaces where appropriate.

This joint working promotes the use of the least restrictive means to support people in mental health crisis.

Since March 2024, the MHTAS team have delivered 48 training sessions, across a period of 5 weeks to over 2000 officers from GMP front line response and district investigation teams.

Faye McShane, MHTAS Clinical Manager said:

“I have only been the MHTAS Clinical Manager for 6 months, however, I am extremely passionate and proud of my team. 

I have worked with MHTAS on and off since 2019 and despite being small, I believe we make a big impact on GMP and the people they come across in the community who are experiencing mental health crisis. 

As soon as I came into post, I made it my priority to visit individual police stations to spread awareness of MHTAS and mental health in general. This training has been intense but extremely rewarding- I am so proud of what we have achieved over a short period of time”.