Mental health access team (MHAT) pilot: developing a multidisciplinary team response within Newcastle Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI) for adults with mental health needs
Scheme
Who?
Newcastle City Council
What
The project has been set up to pilot a new approach to supporting adults with mental ill health who present to the RVI emergency department (ED) in a mental health crisis.
Why?
The scheme has been set up with the aim of:
- reducing hospital admissions
- reducing ED attendance
- better outcomes for patients with follow up post psychiatric liaison team (PLT)
When?
Temporary funding from the Improved Better Care Fund (iBCF) between 2017 and 2020.
How?
The role of the team is to provide:
- short -term intervention
- short-term assessment
- signposting
- screening.
Challenges
The two main challenges have been:
- data-sharing between three organisations – this took some time to resolve but now seems to be working
- negotiating between multiple services about particular cases.
Impact
Growing evidence of:
- enabling access to services
- achieving quicker, safer discharge plans
- following the person once PLT’s involvement has ended is a strength
Case study
Maeve is in her 30s and was awaiting a place on a detox programme because of her alcohol use. She was taken to A&E following a collapse after she had been drinking heavily.