Southampton EIP service places a strong emphasis on improving referrals. All urgent cases are co-worked with the crisis team and there is a 10-day waiting time for routine assessment through a single point of entry. Support is also offered throughout the evening and weekends.

The service offers a range of additional services tailored to both the service user and their carer. The Southampton EIP service is also continuing to work to improve its interface with CAMHS. Link workers regularly liaise with CAMHS to promote communication and encourage future referrals through promoting awareness of the psychosis pathway. Additional support is also offered in the form of youth groups, which promote self-esteem, confidence and communication and a carer support worker, who offers behavioural family therapy. Extended from this, in order to ensure that the needs of carers are met, healios provide assistance and clinical guidance, including web-based carer support and family interventions. This also includes an app to assist in the early detection of relapse.

In order to promote employment, vocational work and basic English and maths classes are run in conjunction with City Limits and Southampton City College. Art and restoration projects and football training are also supported by the city council and Southampton FC respectively. Finally, as part of making services more accessible, future plans include increasing psychoeducation at schools and universities.

Training to ensure the provision of NICE-recommended care:

• Teams regularly receive supervision. Care coordinators trained in psychological interventions are supervised by clinical psychologists.
• All care coordinators receive family work training and supervision.
• Nurse prescribers are supervised by the team psychiatrist who is a BABCP-accredited cognitive therapist.

The team regularly receives positive feedback from service users. They were recently asked about the benefits of EIP. Service users said:

“I trust them – they supported me. They helped me with housing.”

“I have learnt a lot about myself and my illness and that I’m not alone. I’ve received help from both EIP and people at the groups” “EIP helps you control your illness rather than your illness controlling you.”

Southampton incidence and workforce for 16–64 year olds has an approximate population of 167,297 with 48 predicted cases per year (from Fingertips data).

Service model: ‘Stand alone’ EIP service

Workforce: The team is multidisciplinary, consisting of a team leader (1.0 WTE), a consultant psychiatrist (0.85 WTE), a qualified psychologist (0.5 WTE), community psychiatric nurses (3.0 WTE), social workers (1.8 WTE), occupational therapists (1.6 WTE), support, time and recovery workers (2.8 WTE), a carer support worker (1.0 WTE) and an administrator (0.5 WTE).

Adult Mental Health Area Manager said: “It is an honour to support such dedicated staff, who follow a clear pathway of care based on NICE guidelines for people with psychosis, to achieve amazing recovery outcomes for the people we serve. It has been a privilege to meet clients who have come from a really low and poorly place, who, with the support of our staff, are now running their own furniture making services, graduating from university, returned to work or living independently”

Provider:  Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust
Website: www.southernhealth.nhs.uk/