An independent evaluation of the South East Alcohol Innovation Programme (SEAIP), which ran from 2009 to 2011, found that all ten of the projects scrutinised could succeed anywhere in the country. It concluded that:
•Five of the projects identified significant cost savings, with the potential if extended to save the NHS and local authorities millions of pounds
•Five of the projects reported reduced hospital admissions among their client groups
•Three of the projects have been taken up as NHS Quality, Innovation, Productivity and Prevention (QIPP) initiatives, indicating their high potential to demonstrate innovation and increase quality and productivity. A further three of the projects are continuing.
The SEAIP was funded by the Government Office for the South East (GOSE) and managed by the Centre for Public Innovation (CPI). In its first year, it gave £146,000 to 26 projects to test a variety of innovative approaches to reduce the harm caused by alcohol misuse.
The five most successful models were then tested again the next year, with ten projects awarded a total of £118,750 to emulate their ideas. These were evaluated independently between May and August 2011, with the results published in October 2011. Although a formal health economic appraisal was not possible the evaluation indicates significant potential savings could be made using this approach.
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