Cambridge Specialist Depression Service (CSDS)

The CSDS was part of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust and offered specialist and coordinated psychiatric, psychological and nursing care for refractory depression. CSDS was funded by the NIHR CLAHRC and the MRC and was initially being run as part of a pragmatic clinical trial in comparison to usual care. The trial ran for 2 years and was in collaboration with the University of Nottingham.

The clinical team at CSDS comprised Dr Rajini Ramana (Consultant Psychiatrist and C2:AD Clinical Director), Dr Richard Moore (Consultant Clinical Psychologist), Joy Hodgkinson (Clinical Nurse Specialist).

The Cambridge Specialist Depression Service clinical trial has now completed the recruitment phase, so is no longer open to new referrals.

The findings of the trial and evaluation of the service have now been published:

Morriss, R., Garland, A., Nixon, N., Guo, B., James, M., Kaylor-Hughes, C., Moore, R., Ramana, R., Sampson, C., Sweeney, T., Dalgleish, T., (and the CLAHRC Specialist Mood Disorder Study Group) (2016). Clinical and cost effectiveness of a specialist depression service versus usual specialist mental health care for managing persistent depression (CLAHRC): a randomized controlled trial. Lancet Psychiatry, 3, 821-831.

Nixon, N., Guo, B., Kaylor-Hughes, C., Simpson, S., Garland, A., DALGLEISH, T., Morriss, R. & the CLAHRC Specialist Mood Disorder Study Group. (2024). Specialist treatment of persistent depression in UK Secondary Care: stable clinical effects and reduced cost at 24- and 36-months. Journal of Affective Disorders, 15:345:70-77. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2023.10.105.