New Services
This project exists to provide an opportunity to explore and develop innovative approaches to delivering existing services or providing entirely new ones. Ideas for pilot proposals or new business cases can come from highly motivated staff or may be based on anticipating government or commissioner directions in mental healthcare.
Any proposal must be based on sound business model approach, with an emphasis on rigorous end of project evaluations and a ‘lessons learned’ approach. At the moment the two active pieces of work are around the development of a new approach of providing outpatient treatment. Please see below for more information about this.
About Holistic Outpatient Treatment (HOT) Clinics
These days we take it for granted that if we have a physical complaint we can get the right kind of attention and treatment in a clinic that is geared up to providing these to a high standard, conveniently and efficiently – in the same place and within the one visit. Unfortunately this practice is less usual in mental health.
The Holistic Out-patient Treatment (HOT) clinics that are being piloted in this project are using this kind of model for the first time in our trust, for the treatment of depression and traumatic stress.
Service users will be able to see their psychological therapist, psychiatrist or pharmacist, have medicines prescribed, monitored and any necessary advice given or blood tests done - all within the one appointment and venue. We believe this can only better than the disjointed experiences our service users tell us they sometimes have.
Lancashire Traumatic Stress Service
This pilot project started in early 2008. The clinic has been providing a specialist psychological out-patient service for people whose lives are altered because of their experience of traumatic stress. The clinic is located at Euxton Lane, Chorley.
As outlined above, several key aspects of supporting and treating traumatised people are integrated in the one service. The treatment offered conforms with current best practice as outlined in the latest NICE Guidance. As a pilot, there is an emphasis on collecting and evaluating data, to understand how effective it is, especially from the viewpoint of the people who have used the service. It will also review and clarify the pathways between this style of clinic and other established out-patient services.Another task is to assess the demand for this type of specialist clinic, using a ‘market testing’ approach and to thereby inform future business planning in this direction.
Click to visit the Lancashire Care Traumatic Stress Service website.
Depression Clinic
The trust is currently exploring options to provide a similar clinic as described above, for the treatment of depression. The various key aspects of supporting and treating people with depression will be fully integrated in each planned visit. The treatment offered will conform with current best practice as outlined in the latest NICE Guidance.
There will be an emphasis on continually collecting and evaluating data to understand how effective the clinic is, especially from the viewpoint of the people who use it. The intention is to clarify and complete a series of different treatment options for people at different stages of their depression. This clinic will be aimed at those people whose depression has not improved with previous treatment .
Another task is to anticipate the demand for this type of mood disorder clinic, using a ‘market testing’ approach and to thereby inform future business planning in this direction.