Michael Parsonage, Emily Hard & Brian Rock
27 March 2014
Improving mental health care for people with complex needs can reduce pressures on GPs and hospitals as well as dramatically improving people’s lives.
Managing patients with complex needs reviews an innovative service that helps GPs in the City of London and Hackney to support people who fall through the gaps in existing service provision. The service offers training and support to GPs and a range of psychological therapies to patients. It has been found to improve the mental health of 75% of its patients and to help more than half to recover significantly.
The report finds that the service also cuts costs. It helps to reduce the number of GP consultations, A&E visits, outpatient appointments and hospital admissions among its patients. And the report finds that the service costs just £10,900 per ‘quality adjusted life year’ (QALY) it improves. That is less than half of the threshold for cost-effectiveness in the NHS.
Audience: Commissioners, GPs, health services.
