One year on since the first SIM service user joined the programme the Health Innovation Network (HIN) has published the SIM South London End of Year Report. SIM is an innovative mental health transformation programme that provides support to people with serious mental illness that are also high intensity users of public services. SIM is an Academic Health Science Network (AHSN) national programme.
On March 31 2019, there were 19 people on SIM across the three south London mental health trusts. Although the sample size is small and service user experiences on the SIM programme are varied, results are promising. For service users that have been on the programme for more than 6 months, the decrease in the use of a Police power of the Mental Health Act Section S136 has led to a reduction in the average monthly cost by 40% (£168 average per service user per month).
More than half of the cohort of SIM service users have recorded a decrease in costs . The HIN is mindful of drawing conclusions at this early stage noting that savings at the original site were accrued over four years.
The programme has demonstrated incredible collaborative working and is changing the way both the police and mental health work together, as one SIM Police officer said: “SIM is challenging conceptions that have been held for around 200 years of policing and 70 years of the NHS. We are challenging the way in which we work together”
The full end of year report produced by the HIN mental health and informatics team can be read here.
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Tagged: Health Innovation Network, HIN, report, serious mental illness, SIM, SIM south london