Frequently asked questions

How is POMH funded?

POMH is funded solely by subscriptions from member organisations. POMH does not receive any funding from the pharmaceutical industry.

How do I join POMH or renew my membership?

POMH membership is open to all mental health service providers in the UK.

To join or renew your membership, simply complete our online joining form. Subscriptions can be renewed for one or three year terms. Go to the About POMH page to see our fees and joining form.

How many QIPs can my mental health service provider participate in?

Once your service has joined POMH you can participate in as many QIPs as you wish.

You will also have access to all the current and previous reports, supporting slide-sets and interventions, in the online POMH Members' Area.

Is there a minimum number of patients per QIP I can submit?

The minimum number of patients that you wish us to audit will vary across QIPs. Guidance on identifying your sample is provided with each data collection tool.

What is my username/password?

Please contact your local POMH lead. If you are unsure of who this person is, please contact us so we can put you in touch with them.

How can I contact the POMH team?

Please visit our contact page for telephone and email contact details.

When is data collection and when are reports issued?

Please visit our Quality Improvement Programme page, for details of current POMH QIPs.

We provide calendars of the planned activities up to the end of the year, including data collection periods and reporting dates.

Please note that these dates may be revised. Members should ensure they always refer to the most up-to-date calendar.

Can I download my local report?

If you wish to see a copy of your organisation's report, please contact your local POMH lead.

Additionally, your POMH lead may be able to give you your Trust log-in details for the POMH members' area where you can find your Trust's reports for previous QIPs.

Does my mental health service provider participate in POMH?

Please have a look at our current member list. All mental health services listed have a current POMH membership.

Are service users involved with POMH at the local level?

When a Trust joins POMH they are encouraged to set up a local group consisting of a senior pharmacist, senior psychiatrist and a clinical audit person.

It is recommended that nurses and service users are co-opted from relevant services for each individual QIP.

How can service users help at the local level?

Locally, users and carers may be involved in different ways. Once the baseline report is received and the interventions are introduced, the local service users are an extremely important part of the process because they usually know what is happening within their services and what the other services users and carers in the area want and find helpful.

My Trust is a member, but what they do is not communicated to the service users. What should we do?

POMH wholeheartedly supports the involvement of service users in the process of quality improvement.

As with other areas of involvement this should be undertaken in partnership with service users and service user groups, and should follow good practice.

As local circumstances will vary, the POMH team cannot dictate how services will involve service users, but we aim to guide and advise local teams in ways to involve service users as a central part of the quality improvement process.

We would suggest that all local POMH teams have at least one service user as part of the central team, and that someone from the local POMH team attends user group meetings to talk about what is being done in the Trust, enabling service users to be involved.

Can you discuss my care, or a patient's care?

Unfortunately, we are not able to discuss any aspects of your care, or the care of another person.

View the current members of POMH.