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The early impact of COVID-19 on primary care psychological therapy services: A descriptive time series of electronic healthcare records

BACKGROUND: There are growing concerns about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health. With government-imposed restrictions as well as a general burden on healthcare systems, the pandemic has the potential to disrupt the access to, and delivery of, mental healthcare. METHODS: Electronic...

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Autores principales: Bauer-Staeb, Clarissa, Davis, Alice, Smith, Theresa, Wilsher, Wendy, Betts, David, Eldridge, Chris, Griffith, Emma, Faraway, Julian, Button, Katherine S.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Elsevier 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8343255/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34386738
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.eclinm.2021.100939
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author Bauer-Staeb, Clarissa
Davis, Alice
Smith, Theresa
Wilsher, Wendy
Betts, David
Eldridge, Chris
Griffith, Emma
Faraway, Julian
Button, Katherine S.
author_facet Bauer-Staeb, Clarissa
Davis, Alice
Smith, Theresa
Wilsher, Wendy
Betts, David
Eldridge, Chris
Griffith, Emma
Faraway, Julian
Button, Katherine S.
author_sort Bauer-Staeb, Clarissa
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: There are growing concerns about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health. With government-imposed restrictions as well as a general burden on healthcare systems, the pandemic has the potential to disrupt the access to, and delivery of, mental healthcare. METHODS: Electronic healthcare records from primary care psychological therapy services (Improving Access to Psychological Therapy) in England were used to examine changes in access to mental health services and service delivery during early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. A descriptive time series was conducted using data from five NHS trusts to examine patterns in referrals to services (1st January 2019 to 24th May 2020) and appointments (1st January 2020 to 24th May 2020) taking place. FINDINGS: The number of patients accessing mental health services dropped by an average of 55% in the early weeks after the March 2020 lockdown was announced, reaching a maximum reduction of 74% in the initial 3 weeks after lockdown in the UK, which gradually recovered to a 28% reduction by May. We found some evidence suggesting changes in the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of referrals. Despite a reduction in access, the impact on appointments appeared limited with service providers shifting to remote delivery of care. INTERPRETATION: Services appeared to adapt to provide continuity of care in mental healthcare. However, patients accessing services reduced, potentially placing a future burden on service. Despite the observational nature of the data, the present study can inform the planning of service provision and policy. FUNDING: AD and TS were funded by Innovate UK (KTP #11,105).
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spelling pubmed-83432552021-08-11 The early impact of COVID-19 on primary care psychological therapy services: A descriptive time series of electronic healthcare records Bauer-Staeb, Clarissa Davis, Alice Smith, Theresa Wilsher, Wendy Betts, David Eldridge, Chris Griffith, Emma Faraway, Julian Button, Katherine S. EClinicalMedicine Research Paper BACKGROUND: There are growing concerns about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health. With government-imposed restrictions as well as a general burden on healthcare systems, the pandemic has the potential to disrupt the access to, and delivery of, mental healthcare. METHODS: Electronic healthcare records from primary care psychological therapy services (Improving Access to Psychological Therapy) in England were used to examine changes in access to mental health services and service delivery during early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. A descriptive time series was conducted using data from five NHS trusts to examine patterns in referrals to services (1st January 2019 to 24th May 2020) and appointments (1st January 2020 to 24th May 2020) taking place. FINDINGS: The number of patients accessing mental health services dropped by an average of 55% in the early weeks after the March 2020 lockdown was announced, reaching a maximum reduction of 74% in the initial 3 weeks after lockdown in the UK, which gradually recovered to a 28% reduction by May. We found some evidence suggesting changes in the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of referrals. Despite a reduction in access, the impact on appointments appeared limited with service providers shifting to remote delivery of care. INTERPRETATION: Services appeared to adapt to provide continuity of care in mental healthcare. However, patients accessing services reduced, potentially placing a future burden on service. Despite the observational nature of the data, the present study can inform the planning of service provision and policy. FUNDING: AD and TS were funded by Innovate UK (KTP #11,105). Elsevier 2021-06-04 /pmc/articles/PMC8343255/ /pubmed/34386738 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.eclinm.2021.100939 Text en © 2021 The Author(s) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Research Paper
Bauer-Staeb, Clarissa
Davis, Alice
Smith, Theresa
Wilsher, Wendy
Betts, David
Eldridge, Chris
Griffith, Emma
Faraway, Julian
Button, Katherine S.
The early impact of COVID-19 on primary care psychological therapy services: A descriptive time series of electronic healthcare records
title The early impact of COVID-19 on primary care psychological therapy services: A descriptive time series of electronic healthcare records
title_full The early impact of COVID-19 on primary care psychological therapy services: A descriptive time series of electronic healthcare records
title_fullStr The early impact of COVID-19 on primary care psychological therapy services: A descriptive time series of electronic healthcare records
title_full_unstemmed The early impact of COVID-19 on primary care psychological therapy services: A descriptive time series of electronic healthcare records
title_short The early impact of COVID-19 on primary care psychological therapy services: A descriptive time series of electronic healthcare records
title_sort early impact of covid-19 on primary care psychological therapy services: a descriptive time series of electronic healthcare records
topic Research Paper
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8343255/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34386738
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.eclinm.2021.100939
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