Recognising the importance of the new access and waiting time standard and the opportunity to change the lives of people with emerging psychosis in Salford, the CCG invited representatives from Greater Manchester West Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust to discuss current levels of service provision and performance relative to the standard at the earliest possible opportunity. This service is included in NCCMH guidelines.
In preparing to meet the access and waiting time standard, it is essential for commissioners and providers to develop a shared understanding of EIP service demand and current provision so that they can together agree and implement a joint service development and improvement plan (see section 5 of the guidance document).
Recognising the importance of the new access and waiting time standard and the opportunity to change the lives of people with emerging psychosis in Salford, the CCG invited representatives from Greater Manchester West Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust to discuss current levels of service provision and performance relative to the standard at the earliest possible opportunity. This was quickly followed up by site visits from the CCG to the local EIP team to hear about challenges they were experiencing and how the CCG could help the team to deliver against the new standard from April 2016. A key element of this included joint work between the CCG and the EIP team with a group of service users, seeking their perspectives as to how the EIP team had supported them and what the CCG and the trust could do to ensure good quality care. The CCG was also keen to understand the outcomes that people using services wanted to achieve to ensure that these became integral to delivery of the local service development and improvement plan.
The result of this activity led to Salford CCG inviting a business case to support the development of the EIP service, with the aim of ensuring that high-quality NICE-recommended care is available to Salford residents Full Article. In the interim, the CCG has recognised the importance of providing dedicated medical input to the team (something echoed by the service users, carers and members of EIP staff) and funding for a dedicated psychiatrist has been agreed.
