Research and analysis

Evaluation of integrated advice hubs in primary healthcare settings - Progress report

This report provides an update on the implementation of the evaluation of integrated advice hubs in primary healthcare settings.

• From: Ministry of Justice
• Published: 17 November 2023

Documents

Evaluation of integrated advice hubs in primary healthcare settings - Progress report

Ref: ISBN 978-1-911691-18-1

PDF, 2.64 MB, 88 pages

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Details

In October 2021, the Ministry of Justice commissioned an independent evaluation of integrated advice in primary healthcare settings, as part of the commitment made within the Legal Support Action Plan. The evaluation aims to understand the impact and economic value of integrating legal advice in a primary healthcare setting, and the challenges of setting up and delivering these services.

The progress report provides an update on the implementation of the evaluation and presents interim findings from the research undertaken between June 2022 and May 2023.

Key findings include:

• There are several enablers for successful delivery of health-justice partnerships, including the use of direct booking systems to increase referrals, the physical presence of advisors in healthcare settings to improve working relationships, and the ability to deliver advice remotely when required. Some partnerships have faced practical barriers to co-location, including a lack of sufficient funding for space in healthcare settings.
• Clients of health-justice partnerships tended to be aged 45 or older (65%), female (64%), white (92%), from E socio-economic grade (meaning the chief income earner of the household was unemployed, retired, a casual worker or a full-time carer or homemaker) (55%) and have a long-term health condition (71%). Clients most commonly presented with issues to do with government payments (35%) and treatment for mental health issues (31%).
• There is considerable variation in the scale of service models and unit costs, which is reflective of the range of time spent with clients, from one hour to 19 hours. This is in part due to the range of problems supported and their complexity. Further exploration will be conducted to understand the extent to which differences in service delivery models impact on the unit costs.

The final evaluation report is due in Autumn 2024 and will contain comprehensive process, impact and economic analysis.

Published 17 November 2023