An exploration of service use pattern changes and cost analysis following implementation of community perinatal mental health teams in pregnant women with a history of specialist mental healthcare in England: a national population-based cohort study.

Background: The National Health Service in England pledged >£365 million to improve access to mental healthcare services via Community Perinatal Mental Health Teams (CPMHTs) and reduce the rate of perinatal relapse in women with severe mental illness. This study aimed to explore changes in service use patterns following the implementation of CPMHTs in pregnant women with a history of specialist mental healthcare in England, and conduct a cost-analysis on these changes.

Methods: This study used a longitudinal cohort design based on existing routine administrative data. The study population was all women residing in England with an onset of pregnancy on or after 1st April 2016 and who gave birth on or before 31st March 2018 with pre-existing mental illness (N = 70,323). Resource use and costs were compared before and after the implementation of CPMHTs. The economic perspective was limited to secondary mental health services, and the time horizon was the perinatal period (from the start of pregnancy to 1-year post-birth, ~ 21 months).

Results: The percentage of women using community mental healthcare services over the perinatal period was higher for areas with CPMHTs (30.96%, n=9,653) compared to areas without CPMHTs (24.72%, n=9,615). The overall percentage of women using acute care services (inpatient and crisis resolution teams) over the perinatal period was lower for areas with CPMHTs (4.94%, n=1,540 vs. 5.58%, n=2,171), comprising reduced crisis resolution team contacts (4.41%, n=1,375 vs. 5.23%, n=2,035) but increased psychiatric admissions (1.43%, n=445 vs. 1.13%, n=441). Total mental healthcare costs over the perinatal period were significantly higher for areas with CPMHTs (fully adjusted incremental cost £111, 95% CI £29 to £192, p-value 0.008).

Conclusions: Following implementation of CPMHTs, the percentage of women using acute care decreased while the percentage of women using community care increased. However, the greater use of inpatient admissions alongside greater use of community care resulted in a significantly higher mean cost of secondary mental health service use for women in the CPMHT group compared with no CPMHT. Increased costs must be considered with caution as no data was available on relevant outcomes such as quality of life or satisfaction with services.