A new Person Reported Experience Measure (PREM) for the new Community Mental Health Service in Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire

Community Mental Health services have changed in Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire. The services are now integrated, which means they work together to support people who need help with their mental health. The service planners recognised the importance of understanding the service user experience to measure and improve service quality, so they have developed a Person Reported Experience Measure (PREM). This survey will explore people’s experiences using the new integrated community mental health service.

The Clinical Effectiveness team’s impact

NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire ICB Clinical Effectiveness team supported the development of the PREM by:

Gathering information about how existing local mental health support services were collecting user experience
Undertaking a literature review of potentially relevant experience measures
Developing a list of potential PREMs and engaging with a range of stakeholders to review the list and agree on what should be included in a PREM to capture the experiences of people accessing community mental health services across Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire.

This work has resulted in a five-question, bespoke PREM for use in Community Mental Health services across Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire. These questions measure different aspects of service users’ experience. Two of the questions came from the Friends and Family Test, a measure used by all NHS services since 2015.

The Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Community Mental Health PREM will be available in paper and digital formats in multiple languages. Two services will pilot the PREM for six months in 2023 to explore how it works. This test and learn evaluation will help service planners understand if the measure is useful for service improvement and acceptable to people using mental health services. The findings will inform the final version of the PREM that will be used in all community mental health services across Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire.