National Elf Service

No bias. No misinformation. No spin. Just what you need!
The Mental Elf

New study finds no evidence that crisis resolution and home treatment teams have any impact on psychiatric admissions

Andre Tomlin

Crisis resolution and home treatment (CRHT) teams were introduced in England throughout 2000 and 2001 and a number of studies have been published since then which have shown that they are associated with reductions in inpatient admissions.

This new study published in the British Journal of Psychiatry used data from a previous national study for 229 primary care trusts (PCTs) between 1998/99 and 2003/04. The authors used what they refer to as a:

robust policy evaluation methodology to simultaneously examine temporal changes (PCTs before versus after the introduction of CRHT teams) and cross-sectional changes (PCTs with and without CRHT teams).

The research team found no significant differences in admissions between PCTs with and without CRHT teams, after controlling for confounding factors.

The authors conclude:

Contrary to previous studies, we find no evidence that the CRHT policy per se has made any difference to admissions and suggesta need for more research on the policy as a whole.

Jacobs R, Barrenho E. Impact of crisis resolution and home treatment teams on psychiatric admissions in England. Br J Psychiatry. 2011 Feb 3. [Epub ahead of print] [PubMed abstract].

Person looks through a blind
Psychological safety on mental health wards: more than preventing harm
A pile of papers
When staff wellbeing programmes backfire: lessons from a systematic review of mental health ward interventions
Can crisis planning reduce repeat sectioning? FINCH feasibility trial
Written by

André Tomlin is an Information Scientist with 20 years experience working in evidence-based healthcare. He's worked in the NHS, for Oxford University and since 2002 as Managing Director of Minervation Ltd, a consultancy company who do clever digital stuff for charities, universities and the public sector. Most recently André has been the driving force behind the Mental Elf and the National Elf Service; an innovative digital platform that helps professionals keep up to date with simple, clear and engaging summaries of evidence-based research. André is a Trustee at the Centre for Mental Health and an Honorary Research Fellow at University College London Division of Psychiatry. He lives in Bristol, surrounded by dogs, elflings and lots of woodland!

Add a comment
  • Flashback and data dump: End of August, end of summer, mail-out of of mental health, health and social care news,views and opinions « Launchpad: By and for mental health service users

    Flashback and data dump: End of August, end of summer, mail-out of of mental health, health and social care news,views and opinions « Launchpad: By and for mental health service users

    14 years ago
    [...] Hope nobody in our neck of the woods gets too inspired. Digital divide? What’s that then? New study finds no evidence that crisis resolution and home treatment teams have any impact on psychiatric [...]
  • Mickael

    Mickael

    15 years ago
    avec "reverso" car la traduction proposée ne me convenait pas : When we replace the hospitalization by care in the community he(it) not ya effectively no positive impact the study which would deserve to be led it is the one which would compare the impact of home care made by nurse on the rate of réhospitalisation and on the improvement of the quality of life. During aigue phase one needs that intensive care which can be made only at the hospital, the stabilization and its preservation can be made at home with experimented nursing teams The political problem it is to want to replace this by it, while the evolution of the care it is to propose something besides … Proposer une meilleure traduction Proposer une meilleure traduction
  • Mickael

    Mickael

    15 years ago
    quand on remplace l'hospitalisation par des soins dans la communauté il n'y a effectivement pas d'impact positif...l'étude qui mériterait d'être menée c'est celle qui comparerait l'impact de soins à domicile fait par des infirmier(e)s sur le taux de réhospitalisation et sur l'amélioration de la qualité de vie. A condition bien entendu qu'on y mette les moyens humains. Lors de phase aigue il faut des soins intensifs qui ne peuvent être effectués qu'à l'hôpital, la stabilisation et son maintien peuvent se faire à domicile avec des équipes infirmières expérimentées. Le problème politique c'est de vouloir remplacer ceci par cela, alors que l'évolution des soins c'est proposer quelque chose en plus de...
  • Fiona Jones

    Fiona Jones

    15 years ago
    This is very interesting to me. Lancashire Care trust plan to close all small in-patient units in Lancashire. Some have closed in our cities and no other provision was provided or has been built. our campaign centred on the need for people to be treated locally BUT the Trust relied on the argument that Home treatment teams have negated the need for in patient units and that MOST people are now successfully treated in the community. What rot! Some people see their doctor once a year and their 'care co-ordinator' every 3 months or so, have appointments cancelled or just generally get forgotten about. I also have reports that people were told BY THE CRISIS TEAM, if you're still alive in an hour, call us back. Also people have been told to eat bananas if they are sad. Sad? I tell you what's sad, this country is going to the dogs, people are getting ill, mentally and these crisis teams and CRHT don't work! Keep the units open!! Community treatment is not working. I'm glad that someone has uncovered the truth. Thankyou.