New Investment in Psychiatric Services

West London trust wins funds for new style of ‘whole person’ care

West London Mental Health NHS Trust has been successful in winning significant new investment in Psychiatric Liaison Services in the west London area. These services offer comprehensive mental health care to people being treated for physical health conditions in general hospitals, and are proven to save money by reducing emergency re-admissions.

The Trust has been successfully running the Psychiatric Liaison Service at Charing Cross Hospital for a number of years where the team has been recognised as excellent by the Psychiatric Liaison Accreditation Network, which gave it full accreditation in 2010. Now the Trust has been asked to put teams in place at Ealing, Hammersmith and West Middlesex Hospitals, as well as to increase the size of the team at Charing Cross.

Helen Mangan, Head of Partnerships at West London Mental Health NHS Trust, who led the bid said: ‘We’re naturally pleased to have secured this service for the Trust as it creates career opportunities for our staff. But, more than that, we’re delighted for our community who can now be sure of getting the best quality treatment that looks at every aspect of their health, should they be admitted to hospital in west London.’

‘There are many people who are admitted to acute general hospitals with physical health conditions and have co-morbid mental health problems. There’s evidence that this co-morbidity is associated with poorer quality of care for the physical condition, reduced adherence to treatment, increased health service costs and poorer health outcomes. This new, integrated model of care provides expert assessment of a persons’ physical and psychological well-being at key points in their contact with health services’, Helen added.

These new services will be based on the RAID (Rapid Assessment, Interface & Discharge) model, developed in Birmingham City Hospital, which has been shown not only to deliver better quality,  more holistic patient care but also has shown a dramatic impact on admissions to medical wards, as well as reductions in length of stay.
 
The outcomes of these new services will be measured at 3 and 6 months to ensure they achieve goals such as a reduction of long waits in A & E, improved response times for psychiatric assistance on medical wards; regular reviews of antipsychotic medication for people with mental health problems, and reduction in emergency re-admissions. These goals are in line with the Government’s intentions to ‘join up’ healthcare in way that treats the ‘whole person’ and leads to lasting health improvements.

January 30, 2012