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

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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].

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Andre Tomlin

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!

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