Summary

Patients with mental health conditions use hospital Emergency Departments (EDs) more frequently than others. However, many have a poor experience of care in this setting and there are variations across the country in the help, care and support available to those in crisis. In this study, we seek to describe variations in both service use and care quality for adult patients who attend NHS EDs in England because of a psychiatric condition. We will use Hospital Episode Statistics to compare the care they receive from different NHS providers, as well as contrasting it with that provided to adult patients who attend the ED for other, non-mental health related reasons. By characterising variations in care, the study will provide information for those who plan services and seek to ensure that resources are adequately assigned. It will also be relevant to ongoing policy work seeking to ensure parity of esteem for mental and physical ill health.

Principal investigator: Dr Helen Barratt, University College London

Start date and duration: 2015-2018

Partners and collaborators involved: Dr Antonio Rojas-Garcia, Research Partnership Team; Dr Simona Baracaia, Public Health Registrar; The Health Informatics Department, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust.