Extended treatment in early intervention in psychosis services
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Extended treatment in early intervention in psychosis services: Randomised controlled trial, mixed methods sub-study and health economic analysis
IRAS ID
278391
Contact name
Reagan Blyth
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
6 years, 1 months, 0 days
Research summary
Early Intervention in Psychosis (EIP) services provide treatment in the community to people with a first episode of psychosis (FEP). EIP teams offer a package of treatments including medication, talking therapies, education and advice, practical support, and regular contact with a care coordinator. EIP aims to help people with their symptoms and support their recovery. Research shows that EIP is effective / cost-effective, and that people prefer it to other treatments.
Current practice is for EIP to be given for up to three years, when those who are well are discharged to their GP. Those with ongoing symptoms are transferred to a general adult community mental health team. After EIP, many people will recover and remain well. Some have ongoing symptoms that may benefit from a longer period of care from the EIP service. Some quickly struggle and relapse when EIP care ends. NHS England is keen to understand the health, social, and cost benefits if the EIP team could offer treatment for an additional two years (a total of five years).
Our aim is to find out whether extending EIP treatment from 3 to 5 years is beneficial to service users, and cost effective. We will carry out a randomised control trial. Participants will be randomly chosen either to receive the additional two years of EIP care, or be discharged according to current practice. We will record whether participants have a relapse. We will also measure their views on their recovery and quality of life. We will record services they used and work out whether extending EIP is value for money. We will conduct a process evaluation to look at how service users experience treatment, how the EIP teams adapt to extending EIP and whether differences in the way that care is provided results in different outcomes.
REC name
North East - Newcastle & North Tyneside 2 Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
20/NE/0112
Date of REC Opinion
27 Apr 2020
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion