Early Intervention in Psychosis Summary Report March 2021 

Introduction

The Scottish Government commissioned Healthcare Improvement Scotland in 2019 to develop a deeper understanding of the Scottish context related to Early Intervention in Psychosis (EIP).

This work sits within the context of Scottish Government policy direction including Mental Health: Scotland Transition and Recovery (2020).

This report has been co-produced with people with lived experience of psychosis, their families and carers.

There is significant variation in the provision of care and treatment for people with first episode psychosis across Scotland, with only one EIP service (Esteem in Greater Glasgow & Clyde), and most care and treatment delivered by community mental health teams (CMHTs).

The evidence is clear, intervening early with the right set of approaches delivered in the right way will lead to significantly improved outcomes for people. The needs assessment highlighted that most services are not consistently delivering all of the core, evidence-based components of EIP.

Report sections:

• Scope of work
• What is first episode psychosis?
• Needs assessment learning
• Lived experience learning
• Accelerator site learning
• Current Service Delivery Models of EIP from the literature
• Contextual factors influencing choice of service delivery model
• Core components of Early Intervention in Psychosis
• Identifying need
• Cost of implementing EIP across Scotland
• Recommendations
• Next steps
• Acknowledgements
• Bibliography

Next page: Scope of work