mental HEAlth uRgent and emergency care interventions (HEAR)
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Implementation of mental HEAlth uRgent and emergency care interventions for frequent service use: An evaluation study (HEAR)
IRAS ID
312560
Contact name
Jason Scott
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Northumbria at Newcastle
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 4 months, 30 days
Research summary
NHS England highlights the extent of the High Intensity Use (HIU) challenge, showing that around 5,000 people attend emergency departments units more than 20 times each year. Whilst it appears that poor physical and mental health plays an important role in whether someone is a high intensity user, it is not the sole determining factor, and other aspects of a lifestyle linked to deprivation could contribute to high intensity use. Various models of care, such as clinical case management or HIU programmes, have been implemented for people who frequently use urgent and emergency care services. Outcomes (primarily measured based on cost savings and reduction in service utilisation) appear to be positive, but there is currently very little understanding how these services have been implemented into practice, including how individuals, teams and organisations work together across boundaries to deliver these services.
The aim of this research is to understand how services are implemented to support people with low and medium acuity mental health issues in urgent and emergency care settings using case studies of three selected interventions; HIU RightCare, Familiar Faces and Zone West.
The research is comprised of three components.
Component 1 will be a national survey of how the HIU RightCare intervention has been implemented nationally in England.
Component 2a focuses on all interventions, but focusing on implementation within the North East of England. In this section, staff from all interventions will complete a survey and semi-structured interview to understand the implementation process and the people that they work with inside and outside of their organisation.
In component 2b, service users will be invited to take part in a semi-structured interview to understand their perspectives of the interventions.
REC name
South East Scotland REC 02
REC reference
22/SS/0051
Date of REC Opinion
7 Sep 2022
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion