Improving Mental Health Information Programme (iMHIP)

The Improving Mental Health Information Programme (known also as iMHIP) has been in existence within ISD for 6 years (since August 2001).  The programme was formed to improve the fragmented and poorly developed mental health information within Scottish care settings, in order to help develop service provision and benefit overall service user/ client care. 

The programme team is made up from people throughout ISD with a wide and varied range of skills, expertise and enthusiasms.  

A new face for the Mental Health Information Programme.

Dr Alastair Philp led the programme from 2001 - 2007. Alastair's successor as Programme Principal is Mike Muirhead (mike.muirhead@isd.csa.scot.nhs.uk). Mike has held a variety of roles in his time at NHS National Services Scotland focussing on the use and presentation of information. Most recently he has been leading work on the development of Navigator, an application to make ISD's data more accessible to NHS boards through the use of modern web-based technologies.

Alastair writes: I am very grateful to the mental health community for all your support over the last five years! It has been a joy and a privilege to work with you. My very warmest wishes to you all individually and collectively. I still passionately believe that improving mental health care by having better information is very important, and it is tremendously cheering to see that so much of what we have worked on together has now gone 'mainstream'.

Further information can be found from our iMHIP Leaflet, one page summary or quick guide 

National Mental Health Data

Individuals with a mental health problem may have contact with the National Health Service in Scotland in a variety of different settings including:  consultation with their General Practitioner;  with a member of a specialist community mental health team;  at a hospital outpatient clinic;  as day patients in a day hospital or day unit;  or as an inpatient in hospital.   For historical reasons the type of information available varies from setting to setting but some statistical information on all these different aspects of care is available.

Annual conference

IMHIP holds an annual open conference www.isdscotland.org/imhip06 This and other events give service users, carers, health care professionals and other interested people the chance to hear about what's currently happening within the programme, and to meet up with old and new acquaintances and share ideas and thoughts.  

Datasets

IMHIP is also successfully piloting datasets for -encounters and interventions (Information Core for Integrated Care - ICIC) and - discharge summary - (Psychiatric Inpatient Clinical Discharge Information Set - PIC DIS ). We hope to roll this out across Scotland in the next few years.

These datasets will enable health care professionals to collect, share and use client information electronically in a safe and secure environment. Service users and informal carers have been involved in these projects (within multi disciplinary groups) to help ensure that the information incorporated into the datasets is representative of their needs and sensitive to any issues they feel may arise.  
 
If you have questions, or are keen to find out more about iMHIP please contact Karen Brown (0131 275 6885) or Mike Muirhead (0131 275 6614) for a chat.