Remote consultations in mental health – learning from evaluation

These changes are likely to have had an impact on all the people involved in mental health care – from service users to clinicians and other mental health professionals. This new project will seek to understand the impact of these changes. The researchers will examine:   

• The positive and negative effects on staff and service users of the changes
• The effectiveness of remote consultations and areas where more evidence is needed
• How to embed or adapt new models of care to improve services in the future.

The project is being led by the three south London NHS Mental Health Trusts working in conjunction with service users, local mental health services and academic partners, including the Health Innovation Network, and researchers at ARC South London (full list of partners here). 

How is the ARC involved?

Professor Fiona Gaughran, the ARC’s applied informatics lead, is leading the project, working closely with the ARC’s Professor Nick Sevdalis and a wider leadership team. ARC researchers based at King’s Improvement Science and the Centre for Implementation Science are contributing their expertise in implementation and improvement science. This includes:

• Advising on implementation and improvement science frameworks and methods
• Involving experts by experience to shape how the project engages service users and the public 
• Designing and leading the analysis of an electronic survey exploring remote working 
• Reviewing the research on remote working in mental health services before (pre-print here) and during the pandemic.

Overall, the project aims to evaluate the emerging evidence on remote consultations in mental health care, to share best practice, including with other clinical areas and other regions in the country, and to inform how services are delivered now and in the future.      

Resources and research outputs 

Latest developments, research outputs and other resources will be shared here and on the Health Innovation Network website.  

• Remote Consultations in Mental Health: Learning from Evaluation Report (final report September 2021) 

• Patient Experience of Remote Consultations during the Covid-19 Pandemic, a report produced by Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust
• Staying Connected, a report produced by South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust
• Experience of Virtual Appointments/Meetings Survey Report, a report produced by South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust
• Evaluation of Attend Anywhere Video Consultation Platform, a report produced by South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust
• Remote working in mental health services: a rapid umbrella review of pre-COVID-19 literature, a new pre-print paper published as part of the project
• Recording of our webinar on Remote Consultations in Mental Health – Learning from Evaluation held on Wednesday 2 December 2020 and a copy of the presentation.