Elmore’s mental health and complex needs services may have saved the public purse £1.9m over five years
An evaluation of Elmore’s mental health and complex needs floating support services has shown that that Elmore’s interventions have provided an estimated cost saving to the public purse of £1.9m over five years.
Completed by Dr Claire Timlin and Dr Tony Hancy, the evaluation shows that this saving to the public purse amounts to an average of £368K a year or a cost saving per client of over £2K, although the cost saving for particularly complex clients can be far higher.
Elmore’s complex needs and mental health floating support services work with people who struggle to access service provision elsewhere, with the aim of enabling them to stabilise their lives and providing practical and emotional support to manage their mental health. This evaluation uses data for the period covered by the financial years 2016/2017 to 2020/21 to understand how a person requiring support becomes an Elmore client and the outcomes of the support they receive. The evaluation also utilises a cost-effectiveness analysis to identify that Elmore’s services have saved the public purse £1.9m over five years.
Elmore delivers the mental health and complex needs floating support services as part of the Oxfordshire Mental Health Partnership. (OMHP). Elmore is a founding member of the OMHP alongside third-sector providers Connection Support, Oxfordshire Mind, Restore, Response, with Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust. As Elmore’s complex needs and mental health floating support services came into existence in October 2015 as part of the Oxfordshire Mental Health Partnership (OMHP), this evaluation and cost-effective analysis is for service delivery in every one of the completed financial years during the lifetime of the OMHP.
This evaluation:
Analyses referral and assessment pathways to understand how a person requiring support becomes an Elmore client in the complex needs or mental health floating support services.
Explains the types of clients supported by these services, recognising that the client base has such a diverse range of needs.
Explains common client-agency “plug-ins” or referrals on to other services.
Assesses the outcomes and impact of these services by providing qualitative examples of their impact on the lives of Elmore clients and a quantitative cost-effectiveness analysis to estimate the costs of providing the services and the cost savings accruing to society by using the Elmore model.
Makes recommendations to improve data collection and integrity, including providing automated tools to aid future evaluations of these services and other services. They will be auto updated to include the most recent data.
Elmore has also launched a new podcast series called ‘Holding the Hope’ to accompany the launch of the evaluation. The podcast series seeks to increase understanding about complex needs, mental health, and personality disorder, and the Elmore model for supporting local people.
For the first episode of this new podcast series, Elmore has welcomed Gill Attwood, Service Lead for Complex Needs Service and Training and Vocational Initiatives in PD at Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, to a discussion about complex needs and personality disorder. For the second episode, Charlotte Dawson and Adrian Childs, two Elmore Service Managers who support complex needs, mental health, and personality disorder teams, have joined the podcast to talk about Elmore’s model of supporting people across Oxfordshire. Both conversations provide additional information about this evaluation.
Tom Hayes, Chief Executive of Elmore Community Services, said: “This new evaluation and cost-effectiveness analysis shows that Elmore’s services have contributed to an estimated saving to the public purse of £1.9m or £368,000 on average per year, as well as making important changes in the lives of service users. By helping to save such a large sum of money, Elmore has strengthened mental health service provision by enabling these funds to be spent on supporting more people in the ways that they respond to and can benefit from.”
Nick Broughton, Chief Executive of Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, said: “I am thankful for this report because it provides an opportunity to hear of the valuable services provided by Elmore to its clients. Oxford Health has a high regard for the Oxfordshire Mental Health Partnership and the role that Elmore plays in providing high quality care and support to our vulnerable residents. People with complex needs have a particular set of requirements and we recognise the value of the partnership in finding creative and effective ways of working with our clients to improve outcomes. We welcome the focus on this group of patients and support opportunities to invest in services and the partnership going forwards. I would like to thank the commitment and efforts of all the staff and volunteers in Elmore who have made this work possible.”
Dr Bruno Holthof, Chief Executive of Oxford University Hospitals (OUH) NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is one of the UK’s largest teaching hospitals and, in common with other NHS trusts, demand on our services is increasing. The creative role and positive contributions of Elmore Community Services over the last five years has significantly strengthened the resilience and ability of the Trust to support the mental health and complex needs of local people. During the pandemic, when the third sector and the NHS have been put under enormous pressure, Elmore and the Trust have continued to work closely in the interests of the wider health and social care system and the people who depend on it. We are also pleased to work alongside Elmore in the provision of the High Intensity User Project, which involves Elmore providing support in the community to people who frequently make use of emergency services and the Emergency Department at the John Radcliffe Hospital, particularly during COVID-19. The Trust is proud to have played its role alongside Oxfordshire’s leading third-sector complex needs provider in saving the public purse an estimated £1.9m over the last five years and strengthening the delivery of mental health and complex needs floating support services within the Oxfordshire Mental Health Partnership.”
Councillor Liz Leffman, Leader of Oxfordshire County Council, said: “Oxfordshire County Council is a strong partner of the community and voluntary sector. This new evaluation shows the positive impact that Elmore and local statutory and third-sector service providers make to the lives of Oxfordshire residents. Elmore has been able to save the public purse £1.9m over five years because of a collaborative style and dedication to the care of clients. Working closely with Oxfordshire County Council, Elmore is supporting people with mental ill health, complex needs, involvement in domestic abuse, and homelessness. Together we are improving the lives of many local people.”
Matthew Barber, Police and Crime Commissioner for the Thames Valley, said: “Working with partners such as Elmore Community Services supports us in addressing the causes and effects of criminality, thereby having a direct and positive impact in the communities we serve. Elmore persistently, non-judgementally, and flexibly seeks to engage local people and this type of assertive outreach enables us to work collaboratively to come up with solutions for the greater good. This evaluation demonstrates that impact, including saving an estimated £1.9m to the public purse over the last five years.”
Media:
The Oxford Mail covered the launch of the mental health and complex needs services’ review here.