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Psychiatry

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Crisis and Acute Care Projects

[Project status: Ongoing]

project summary

Three MHPRU projects have been focusing on informing policy on acute and crisis care:

  1. Beyond Places of Safety (BPOS)  Evaluation. In January 2017, the Department of Health launched a £15 million project entitled ‘Beyond Places of Safety’, providing infrastructure support for innovative services for people experiencing a mental health crisis. During the pandemic, a delay in evaluating this work was agreed as many projects were not progressing as planned, but MHPRU has now collected data from managers of 18 innovative services set up through the scheme. We investigated their role within local crisis care systems, and what has helped or hindered their implementation – the results are now in pre-print. A further paper in preparation is examining the crisis café model in more depth.
  2. National Acute Care Systems Study:  In a linked project, we have aimed to survey crisis care models currently implemented in England and to explore what features of catchment area crisis care systems are associated with rates of hospital admissions. In our first paper from this study, we described crisis care systems in catchment areas nationwide, focusing on the emergency of innovative but as yet largely unevaluated models such as crisis cafes and triage teams.  In a second paper, now in pre-print, we have investigated what characteristics of local crisis care systems and what models are associated with variations in admissions and compulsory admissions.  
  3. Mapping of alternatives to inpatient care: For our third inpatient care project, MHPRU researchers are working with NHS-E policy makers, lived experience researchers and national experts on a mapping of alternatives to inpatient care. This includes alternatives to acute inpatient care for both adults and children and young people, as well as alternatives or approaches to reducing length of stay in forensic or long-stay wards. First outputs are expected by May 2023.

 


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