Mental health professionals, police and ambulance staff have joined forces to improve care for people experiencing a mental health crisis.

A pilot scheme was launched this week in Oldham and Tameside by Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) and North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust (NWAS).

The mental health joint response service involves an experienced Pennine Care clinician and police officer jointly attend incidents, where the person is experiencing a mental health crisis. The incidents will be passed to them by GMP call handlers and they will respond in a dedicated police vehicle.

The service will run from 3pm to 1am in Oldham and 5pm to 1am in Tameside, which is when GMP receives the highest number of mental health crisis calls.

When the police are called out to someone experiencing a mental health crisis, they will typically bring them to a section 136 suite.  These are hospital-based places of safety for someone who needs urgent mental health care and assessment. 

Nearly 1,000 people were admitted to Pennine Care’s section 136 suites between April 2020 and March 2021, which is the latest available data. 

Following assessment, only 16 per cent needed a hospital admission, meaning the majority could have been appropriately and safely treated by a community-based service (e.g. their GP, voluntary support services, or Pennine Care’s access service).  

Thanks to this new partnership, funded by the Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership, the clinician will be on hand to offer support and assess which service best meets the person’s needs. This will help ensure only people with the most complex needs are taken to a 136 suite.

(left to right) Lesley Williams - service lead at Pennine Care; PC Craig Hannelly of Greater Manchester Police; and Marie Baistow - Oldham liaison team manager at Pennine Care – who covered the very first shift in Oldham on Monday (31 January).

The joint response scheme supports another new partnership (known as the mental health huddle), which involves NWAS call handlers transferring mental health calls to Pennine Care’s 24/7 helpline. This allows the person to speak to a qualified mental health professional and quickly be directed to the right service for their needs.

If someone is experiencing a crisis, they can now arrange for the joint response team to attend (during their hours of operation), instead of an ambulance.

The joint response scheme and mental health huddle form part of Pennine Care’s ambitious transformation programme, which the Trust says aims to make sure people receive the right support, at the right time in the right place. This increases people’s chances of making a full recovery and that specialist and hospital services are available for those with the most complex needs.

Karen Maneely, network director of operations for Pennine Care, said: “Making sure people receive the right mental health care is vital for their recovery. For most people, a restrictive setting, like a 136 suite or a hospital ward, is not the right place and it can have a long-term negative effect. 

“We’re constantly exploring how we can increase and improve our community-based services and ensure people are referred as early as possible. Working with our partners will really help with this and we’re excited to see the benefits of this new scheme.”

Members of the Oldham mental health joint response service

Greater Manchester Police's Chief Inspector for Oldham, Ric Warden, said: "We are often the first point of contact for people in crisis. Incidents involving people in our communities who require immediate support with an acute mental health need have increased. Making sure that they get the right care is vital." 

Greater Manchester Police's Chief Inspector for Tameside, Claire Galt, added: “Working with Pennine Care clinicians and NWAS at the first response ensures that the person is given qualified mental health care from the start.  This is a collaborative pilot scheme that tackles an issue that we see on a daily basis. We anticipate it will make a real difference."

Dr Lesley Jones, mental health and dementia lead for North West Ambulance Service, commented: “We thank Pennine Care and Greater Manchester Police for working with us on this initiative, which will help further support people who are ringing 999 experiencing a mental health crisis.”

The pilot scheme will be evaluated when it ends on 31 March 2022. If it’s successful, the aim is to secure permanent funding and roll it out across Pennine Care’s other boroughs of Bury, Rochdale and Stockport.

People of any age who need mental health advice or support can phone Pennine Care’s 24/7 helpline on 0800 014 9995.