The Lambeth Living Well Network Hub is a local service which was developed to provide better support to people in Lambeth who experience mental distress.
Researchers at King's Improvement Science (KIS) led a study to evaluate whether the phased introduction of the Lambeth Living Well Network Hub to the local population led to a reduction in the overall volume of patients referred by GPs for assessment by specialist mental health care services. They used NHS data to test whether the introduction of the new service offering more appropriate support reduced unnecessary referrals.
The Hub was co-designed after a lengthy consultation process and KIS researchers were invited to evaluate the service to provide new data that could help to improve it.
The research team compared trends in referrals before and after the introduction of the Hub. Findings were published in Mental Health Review Journal in September. The researchers found that the introduction of the Hub meant that GPs could make more informed detailed referrals to secondary care when needed. The Hub had multidisciplinary teams from different backgrounds, which helped staff to signpost individuals to different organisations, including voluntary organisations or secondary care.