This page is for anyone with an interest in learning more about early intervention psychosis services; you may be a student, a health or social care practitioner, work for third sector or voluntary organisations or just wish to learn more about EIP services in Wales.
If you would like information on the services available in your local area or to make a referral, contact details for teams in Wales can be found on the accessing support page.
Standards for EIP services in the UK
Workforce learning and development
Additional resources for EIP staff (password protected)
The EIP approach
EIP services in Wales work with people experiencing symptoms of psychosis. The model of care is focused on quick access to appropriate assessment and treatment. Teams work closely with the person and their family and support network to reduce disruption to the individual’s functioning and development.
Without specialist EIP services there can be a long delay in receiving appropriate care, leading to worsening of symptoms and longer recovery times. The treatment goals of an EIP service are summarised below
- Early identification and treatment of the primary symptoms of psychotic illness
- Improve access and reduce delays in initial treatment
- Educate the person with psychosis and their family about the illness
- Reduce the frequency and severity of relapse
- Reduce the risk of other health-related problems developing
- Reduce disruption to social and vocational functioning
- Promote wellbeing among family members and carers
- Support the person during their recovery
- Develop a plan for maintaining mental health
From the Early Psychosis Prevention & Intervention Centre (EPPIC)| Orygen Specialist Program
Outcome measurement
An outcome measure is a tool used to assess the impact of a healthcare service or intervention on a person’s health status.
The chosen outcome measures for EIP services in Wales are DIALOG+ and ReQoL-10 DIALOG+, a patient-reported outcome measure (PROM) and a patient-reported experience measure (PREM). The scale has 11 questions that people rate their satisfaction with eight life domains and three treatment aspects along a 7-point scale.
The tool, training materials and background can be found at DIALOG+ | East London NHS Foundation Trust.
The outcome measures poster is available to download below:
ReQoL-10 is a patient-reported outcome measure (PROM) developed to assess the quality of life using 10 questions plus a separate physical health question, all measured over a four-point scale.
More information on the tool, its development, scoring guide and its availability in translated languages can be found on the ReQol website.
ReQoL is also listed as a cluster one tool for Wales, further information on the clusters and framework can be found at Outcome Measures – Public Health Wales.
Standards for EIP Services in the UK
Royal College of Psychiatrists Early Intervention in Psychosis Network (EIPN)
EIPN is a quality improvement and accreditation network for early EIP teams in the UK. Services engage in a self and peer review process against Standards for Early Intervention in Psychosis Services. The standards form the framework by which services are assessed in terms of the quality of care and service provided. The network also allows the sharing of good practice. More information is available at Early Intervention in Psychosis Network (EIPN) | Royal College of Psychiatrists.
National Clinical Audit of Psychosis
The National Clinical Audit of Psychosis (NCAP) aims to improve the quality of care that NHS mental health trusts in England and Health Boards in Wales provide to people with psychosis. Services are measured against criteria relating to the care and treatment they provide so that the quality of care can be improved. More information is available at National Clinical Audit of Psychosis (NCAP) | Royal College of Psychiatrists.
Workforce learning and development
The EIP network in Wales remains connected through a series of national working groups and peer support sessions. Collaboration across teams is encouraged and valued. Training events are open to all in EIP, some of the video recordings from past events can be found on the videos page.
Data for Improvement
EIP services in Wales set targets against NCAP-reported figures for key improvement areas.
Through the use of improvement methodology, Improvement Cymru have supported services nationally to promote safe, effective and efficient care delivered at the right time and the right place.
Across Wales, services have been working together to understand why data for improvement is key in delivering good quality care, agree on what data needs to be collected to evidence outcomes and impact and develop robust lean processes to source data.
This work has supported:
- Developing baseline measurements
- Scoping and developing a process to source data
- Monitoring the quality of patient care over time
- Decision-making and evaluation of provision
- An appreciation of how and where resources are utilised
- Understanding of bottlenecks and constraints that exist within the system
- Knowledge of the capability and capacity of services
- Service improvement initiatives
- Key improvement targets locally and nationally
For more information, look at the EIP paper Realising Data Improvements which you can download below.
Co-production
Co-production involves professionals working with people with lived experience to develop solutions.
The way of working is based on building trusting relationships, valuing people, building on strengths, focusing on what matters and enabling people to be the ‘change maker’.
Find out more, and access resources and training on the Co-production Network for Wales website.
Download
Presentations, papers, and past events
- Cultural Competency Slides from 13th May 2023
- Transdiagnostic staging approach (Pat McGorry) Slides from 14th July 2023
- Healing Waters article: a new wave of social prescribing – Outdoor Swimmer Magazine
- Sailing Adventure Therapy Slides from EIPN conference 7th October 2022
Downloads
Useful websites and links
- Orygen: Resources – Revolution in Mind
- Royal College Psychiatrists – developing EIP pathways
- REACT toolkit from the Lancaster University website
- DIALOG+ training video with Professor Stefan Priebe
- Individual Placement Support, background and application: What is IPS? – Centre for Mental Health