Developing mental health services in a primary care setting: Liverpool Primary Care Mental Health Project

The Liverpool Primary Care Mental Health Project (PCMHP) was set up in 1996 to provide mental health services in a primary care setting. This study describes and evaluates an impact of a working model of a multi-disciplinary team in close association with five Liverpool practices. The data were collected on all patients who came in contact with the PCMHP team during a three-year period and compared with the data available for the five neighboring teams on waiting time between referral and assessment, clinical outcome, in-patient bed usage, GPs' and patients' satisfaction with services. The number of new referrals remained the same over three years. The usage of inpatient beds dropped by 38% in the same period. Waiting time between referral and assessment for new patients reduced from six weeks to one-two weeks. GP's were highly satisfied with access to CMH Nurses, overall communication with the team and overall delivery of the services. Over 80% of patients were satisfied with the services. Integrated mental health services with primary care proved to be effective and satisfactory to GPs as well as to patients. This approach did not increase the workload of the mental health team.