Recommendation – Greater Manchester Police, November 2023

· Ref: 2021/154122

Recommendation date: 22 November 2023

Response due: 17 January 2024

Published: 20 December 2023

We identified organisational learning from one our investigations. We will share our findings once associated proceedings have concluded.

View on IOPC website

Recommendations (1)

Recommendation 1 Accepted

Recommendation

The IOPC recommends that Greater Manchester Police implements essential changes to ensure the Greater Manchester Mental Health Tactical Advice Service (MHTAS) are being utilised by response officers and call handlers during mental health incidents. These changes should include: Amending the … Read more

Force Response

Accepted: The Greater Manchester Police Mental Ill Health, Mental Incapacity and Learning Disabilities (MIHMILD) policy and procedure document has been reviewed and redrafted in December 2023. As part of the work on the MIHMILD policy, a new section (section 5.1.2) … Read moreAccepted: The Greater Manchester Police Mental Ill Health, Mental Incapacity and Learning Disabilities (MIHMILD) policy and procedure document has been reviewed and redrafted in December 2023. As part of the work on the MIHMILD policy, a new section (section 5.1.2) has been included for the sole purpose of outlining the functions and services of MHTAS and the expectations of officers to make contact in the following situations; Section 5.1.2 of the policy also outlines the legal obligation for officers to consult specified medical professionals, if practicable to do so (as outlined under S136 (1c) of the Act) if considering utilising their powers under section 136 MHA 1983 and that MHTAS will likely be the most appropriate option for such consultation. Section 5.1.2 also outlines that the MHTAS service is available 24 hours a day along with the contact phone number for officers to use when wishing to contact MHTAS. Consideration was given to the importance of MHTAS when redrafting the MIHMILD policy document and as such the content regarding MHTAS was placed within the early pages of the policy (pages 4 and 5) with the aim of being easily located and visible to the reader. Due to the standard template format utilised with Greater Manchester Police for policy and procedure documents, Section 5 was the earliest section in which such information could be recorded and is preceded only by the policy statement (section 1), Policy scope (section 2), roles and responsibilities (section 3) and terms and definitions (section 4). The redraft of the MIHMILD policy document was completed on December 18th 2023 and has been through an informal consultation process internally within GMP. The document is currently being prepared for external formal consultation. It is expected that formal consultation on this policy will commence by the second week of January 2024. The formal consultation process will take no less than 28 days from submission. Response to point 2: In the immediate aftermath of [a man's] tragic death, the Mental Health Tactical Advice Service (MHTAS) Operations manager delivered in person 10-minute briefings to supervisory staff within the Force Contact – Crime and Operations Branch (FCCO). As a result of this proposed learning recommendation from the IOPC, Greater Manchester Police’s (GMP) strategic lead for mental health met with the new Operations manager and Clinical Manager for MHTAS who agreed that they will prioritise delivering refresher training to all dispatch staff within the FCCO between January and the end of March 2024. The strategic lead at Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust (GMMH) who run the MHTAS service is fully supportive of this training. GMMH have also agreed to work with GMP’s FCCO training team to ensure that the briefing on MHTAS is included in all new starter training. From the beginning of February through until April 2024, GMP will be training FCCO staff in relation to Right Care Right Person (a national approach supported by the Home Office and College of Policing) and It has been agreed with the lead trainers that MHTAS will be covered as part of that input. In the interim MHTAS have created a briefing slide which since 5 January 2024 has featured on the Dispatch Supervisors Briefing. The slide includes key information and services provided by MHTAS including its telephone number and all year round availability. Show less