Early intervention in psychosis service and psychiatric admissions.

AIMS AND METHOD To investigate the effects of a standard National Health Service early intervention in psychosis service on bed days and engagement with services. We conducted a naturalistic before-and-after study comparing outcomes of individuals who received treatment from the service ( n =75) with outcomes of individuals who presented to mental health services before the early intervention service was established and received treatment as usual ( n =114). RESULTS People treated by the early intervention in psychosis service had significantly fewer admissions ( P <0.001), readmissions ( P <0.001), total bed days ( P <0.01) and better engagement with services ( P <0.05). CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS An early intervention in psychosis service compliant with current British mental health policy led to reduced use of psychiatric bed days confirming recent findings elsewhere. This leads to major financial savings, easily justifying the initial cost of investment in the service.