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    • Community Triage Tool


      Welcome to the Community Triage Tool (CoTT) Hub where you can find information about the tool and the history of the Manchester Triage System (MTS) from which it was developed. 

      Find out if using the CoTT could benefit your organisation, as well as information on implementation, licensing and governance. 

      If you are a current CoTT provider or instructor, you can access your resources by logging in to the site and clicking on the buttons above.

    • We’ve launched new Hub pages for each Manchester Triage System tool. 

      These pages will contain everything you need to know about each MTS tool from the background and methodology to Instructor teaching materials and resources. 

      We hope these Hub pages will make it easier for you to find what you are looking for.

      The new menu bar above contains links to all the Hub pages, as well as pages to help you navigate the rest of the site, access your current courses and contact us if you have any questions.

    • The Community Triage Tool (CoTT) is a simple checklist for carers, or anyone looking after a person in the community who may be ill or injured. It helps to determine the priority needed, and while using the CoTT tool does not require the user to have a clinical background, it can help to determine the most appropriate place for further clinical assessment to take place. 

      The CoTT is based on the Manchester Triage System (the biggest triage system in the world), and is designed to quickly identify any life threatening or serious symptoms, as well as helping users to identify the most appropriate pathway of care for people with minor injury or illness.

      The CoTT may be used in any community setting such as Residential or Care Homes, Pendant providers, First responder organisations and carers in the community.




    • The principles of the Manchester Triage System are still followed in the Community Triage Tool, with the use of the reductive methodology. However, rather than choosing between 53 MTS presentation charts, the Community Triage Triage tool has just one chart.


      The MTS discriminators (symptoms) have been amended into question prompts to enable non-clinical staff to use the tool safely. 


      Using the CoTT does not require a clinical decision to be made, rather it asks the person carrying out the assessment to make their way through a checklist of presenting symptoms and, should the person have any of the symptoms on the list, this is the priority that would be used. 

      Once the priority has been reached, the user may then decide on the appropriate outcome for a clinical assessment to take place. 


      Outcomes can be tailored to the availability of services in your area and should be made aware that the CoTT tool is being used so that they can understand the process. 

    • Community Triage Tool Implementation


      If your service is interested in implemented the CoTT, you will find some information below. If you have any more questions or would like to discuss the implementation or licensing further, please contact manchestertriage@alsg.org


      In order to implement the CoTT, you will need the following:


      • A license with the Manchester Triage Group and ALSG for your service
      • Instructor training for your instructors who will be responsible for the training and sign off of the providers in their service
      • Audit and governance agreement with the Manchester Triage Group

    • Licensing the use of MTS Clinical Risk Management Tools

      The Manchester Triage System (MTS) is a series of clinical risk management tools used by clinicians worldwide to enable them to safely manage patient flow when clinical need far exceeds capacity. The following MTS tools are available:


      • Emergency Triage: Emergency Departments and Ambulance Services
      • Telephone Triage and Advice: Urgent and Emergency Care
      • Prehospital Pathfinder: Ambulance Services
      • Community Triage Tool: Community settings (non-clinical)


      The licensing process for MTS content is managed by Wiley on behalf of the Advanced Life Support Group and the Manchester Triage Group. A formal governance structure for MTS ensures that training, audit and robust ongoing review is carried out routinely so that the tools stay safe, up-to-date and relevant to current practice.


      All MTS tools are licensed to recognise the ownership of the intellectual property of MTS content and also to provide ongoing funding for the governance processes. The licensing agreement also provides a formal connection between the MTS and its users ensuring that users receive the correct training, engage in audit and are fully aware when updates are required.


      The first step is to register via our online portal to ensure that you understand the governance processes in terms of training, audit and licensing. Different MTS tools have different licensing requirements and you will find the information needed on the MTS hub page for each tool. 


      The Community Triage Tool has a one off license fee, which will be based on the location (UK or international use) and the size of the service. Click here to apply

      For UK based services only: 

      Small: 50 residents or less £100 
      Medium: 51 -100 residents £150 
      Large: 101 or above £200


      International services wishing to implement the CoTT should contact manchestertriage@alsg.org for further information.

    • The Manchester Triage Accreditation Scheme for The Community Triage Tool

      MTS Accreditation status will be awarded to an organisation implementing the CoTT who:
      • Where appropriate, pays the review and approval fees due to either MTS or their designated International Lead within their specified settlement dates 
      • Has a minimum of two trained instructors who have completed training with the senior MTS instructors 
      • Instructors who are responsible for cascading provider training to all of their CoTT users 
      • Instructors who register all users on the MTS website and sign off as registered providers following training, supervision and sign off
      • Carries out audit and maintains the minimum governance requirements
      • Submits annual audit data and compliance information
      • Certifies that no changes have been made to the product that was signed off

      To apply for MTS Accreditation complete this application form online


      Accreditation, when awarded will be valid until an update of the tool is issued.  At the point that a previous version of the tool expires (i.e. after three months for a patient safety update and six months for other updates), organisations will be reminded to apply for re-accreditation.


      Audit and Governance

      Audit is a key requirement for all organisations who implement any of the Manchester Triage Tools. The standard for audit will be agreed with individual organisations to take into account both safety and service demand. 


    • To become a CoTT instructor, a license agreement must first be in place with your organisation and the Manchester Triage Group. Instructor training will then be arranged which currently consists of one x 4 hour Teams session. 

      Online e-modules will be available soon which can be completed instead of the Teams session.

      Each organisation implementing the Community Triage Tool must designate at least two CoTT instructors who will have the following responsibilities:

      • Ensure that a license agreement is in place. See details above in the section on licensing the CoTT
      • Complete all required Instructor training
      • Ensure all staff using the Community Triage Tool have completed all the required provider training, supervision and sign off prior to using the tool independently
      • Cascade any updates to the CoTT to all users
      • Collate and submit regular audit data to the Advanced Life Support Group (ALSG)



    • We are currently developing a full set of e-modules for the Community Triage Tool. Once these are available you will be able to click the link below to take you to the Introduction to the Community Triage Tool e-module. 

    • The full list of Community Triage Tool e-modules will be available here soon.

    • If you have any concerns about the CoTT or wish to report any issues to the Manchester Triage Advisory Groups, then please complete this e-form.


      The Manchester Triage Advisory Group Chairs and Vice-Chairs meet on a quarterly basis, however if you indicate on the form that the issue may be a patient safety concern, the issue will be reviewed immediately on receipt by the Manchester Triage Board.

    • The Manchester Triage Group (MTG) is clear that patients being triaged using out of date editions of any of the MTS tools, may be at risk of mis-triage and may therefore have worse clinical outcomes.

      The MTG will not support users of previous versions/editions in court but will send a letter to the above effect to any medical negligence proceedings.

      The MTG will inform all licensees within 28 days about any patient safety updates.


      For translated versions the International Reference Group (IRG) lead will be responsible for this notification.


      It is the responsibility of any software company and their end users that if a software solution has been implemented, that they ensure the system is compliant with the updates.


      Previous editions will not be supported after 3 months where there is a patient safety update and 6 months for general updates.


      The current version is CoTT 2.0 and to date no updates have been issued. It is important to ensure that you are licensed correctly and that you keep these details up-to-date so that we can contact you about any updates.