Care Pathway Enhancement Clinic (CaPE) – Information for Staff
The Care Pathway Enhancement (CaPE) Clinic is run by Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust (CNTW). The primary goal of the CaPE clinic is to enable patients with mood disorders to get involved in research studies – both trials of new treatments as well as non-interventional studies investigating the nature of mood disorders. There are, however, additional broader benefits of the CaPE clinic. Patients are provided with a specialist assessment and management plan which are communicated to the patients GP (and secondary care team if relevant). The clinic also offers opportunities for trainee psychiatrists and staff from a range of disciplines to gain clinical expertise and research competencies. The CaPE clinic infrastructure also enables the trust to support the development and implementation of novel treatment strategies and the transformation agenda.
Relationship of the CaPE clinic to RADS
The CaPE clinic is separate from, but works closely with, the Regional Affective Disorders Service (RADS). Fundamentally the two services are primarily targeted at different populations of patients. The CaPE clinic primarily sees self-referred patients or those referred from primary care. It is effectively operating in the primary/secondary care gap. RADS only takes referrals of patients with very difficult to treat mood disorders from specialist mental health services – primarily psychiatrists. It does not take referrals from GPs or self-referrals. Visit this page for further information about RADS
RADS and the CaPE clinic do work closely together around supporting the development and implementation of novel treatment strategies. If clinicians have questions regarding this they should contact either the CaPE clinic ([email protected]) or RADS ([email protected]) directly.
Who is CaPE for?
The CaPE clinic is for patients over 18 years of age with mood disorders (both depression or bipolar disorder) who may be interested in participating in clinical research. The clinic is unable to see patients for whom urgent care is needed, or who require mental health care beyond the capabilities of the clinic. Note that the CaPE clinic is NOT a full multidisciplinary team or community treatment team, and only operates Monday to Friday 9am-5pm.
The clinic accepts referrals from primary care, as well as self-referrals. Patients can also be referred from secondary care in relation to a specific study or treatment being offered by CaPE. Note that patients will often be contacted prior to attendance at the clinic to confirm that they meet eligibility for the clinic (primarily that they don’t have any obvious reasons for exclusion from studies).
What to expect from CaPE
Patients who are not already in secondary care will have a thorough clinical assessment supported by self-completed questionnaires. This first appointment will last up to two hours and may include blood tests or an ECG. The health care professional will usually organise a second telephone or in-person appointment to discuss their recommendations and explore suitable research opportunities. A GP letter will be written. Participation in research is entirely optional. This initial assessment will be streamlined for existing CNTW patients.
CaPE does NOT provide ongoing care for patients. Rather, it provides one off assessments with advice back to the individual’s GP. The exception to this is if the individual is taking part in a study, or receiving treatment, that requires them to be in secondary care and they are not already in this.
Research opportunities
Research opportunities for patients attending CaPE are constantly changing. They include both interventional (treatment) trials and non-interventional observational studies. Further information can be found on the Northern Centre for Mood Disorders website
Contact details
For referral and for more information about the CaPE Clinic, please contact:
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 0191 208 1361 or 07919 881 400
Address: Wolfson Research Unit, Campus for Ageing and Vitality, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, NE4 6BE
Opening times: Monday to Friday: 9am to 5pm