To read this content please select one of the options below:

Examining forensic service effectiveness within an NHS Trust: outcomes and considerations for practice

Nishant Krishnan (Department of Psychology and Social Science, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, Australia)
Ivan Sebalo (University of New York in Prague, Praha, Czech Republic)
Wendy Copeland-Blair (NHS, Liverpool, UK)
Jane L. Ireland (School of Psychology and Humanities, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, UK)

The Journal of Forensic Practice

ISSN: 2050-8794

Article publication date: 13 December 2024

19

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to examine whole service effectiveness using a secure version of the Health of the Nation Outcome Scales (HoNOS-Secure), further supplemented in some services by the Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation – Outcome Measure (CORE-OM) and the Patient Reported Experience and Outcome Measure (PREOM).

Design/methodology/approach

The utility of these measures were considered across the full remit of forensic services within a single NHS Trust. A total of 1,038 service users were included (male, n = 876), with the majority of these presenting with HoNOS-Secure ratings. It was predicted that there would be differences pre and post therapy indicated using these measures, that there would be further differences in relation to period of contact with services, and an association was also noted in relation to aggression within services.

Findings

Results indicated that HoNOS-Secure scores decreased following treatment and as a function of time spent in secure care. However, no statistically significant improvement or deterioration was observed on patient-reported outcome measures (CORE-OM and PREOM).

Practical implications

The paper concludes with a comparative examination evaluating potential arguments regarding why low levels of distress are observed within forensic populations and why discrepancies exist between clinician-rated and patient-reported routine outcome measures.

Originality/value

Research into this area is limited and yet the HoNOS is a widely implemented tool, without consideration of the core value of this measure.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

Disclosure statement: The authors report there are no competing interests to declare.

Citation

Krishnan, N., Sebalo, I., Copeland-Blair, W. and Ireland, J.L. (2024), "Examining forensic service effectiveness within an NHS Trust: outcomes and considerations for practice", The Journal of Forensic Practice, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/JFP-10-2024-0058

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2024, Emerald Publishing Limited

Related articles