About - IMS Online

About Us

IMS Online

The Integrated Monitoring System (IMS) is provided by the Public Health Intelligence Unit within the Public Health Institute to record activity such as brief interventions, recovery support activities, and Needle and Syringe Programme (NSP) provision, for reporting to local public health commissioners. IMS captures details of the non-structured treatment activity delivered by a variety of providers including syringe exchanges and substance misuse services across Cheshire & Merseyside.

IMS also corporates a dedicated Drug Related Deaths (DRD) portal, for the monitoring and review of DRD and in-treatment mortality, used by local authorities across Cheshire, Merseyside, and Greater Manchester. The DRD review process involves the collection of data from both treatment providers and coroners offices, and the facilitation of a multi-agency review panel.

Professor Mark Bellis - Director of the Public Health Institute

Public Health Institute

The Public Health Institute (PHI) is a research and teaching institute based within the Faculty of Health, Innovation, Technology and Science at Liverpool John Moores University. The research centre formerly called the Centre for Public Health (CPH) became a research institute and was renamed as the Public Health Institute on 1st August 2016.

We offer expertise in a range of methodologies including epidemiology and statistics, qualitative research, participatory methods, systematic reviews and evaluation. PHI draws from a wide range of Honorary Lecturers and Professors based in the health services and other public bodies, both in the UK and abroad, in order to support multi-disciplinary approaches to public health.

The work of LJMU’s Public Health Institute

Helping communities overcome the key public health challenges they are facing today; violence; addictions; sexual health and surveillance.

Discover more about LJMU’s Public Health Institute in our video:

IMS overview and reporting methodology

IMS introduction and overview
This short presentation introduces the Integrated Monitoring System, and includes figures from the 2017-18 reporting period as examples of outputs from the system.

IMS cohorts methodology
This diagram explains the process where IMS clients are divided into one of the three cohort groups: PWID Psychoactive Drug / PWID Steroids & IPEDs / Brief Intervention ‘only’ clients.

IMS client numbers methodology
IMS is primarily used for the recording of 'non-structured' (Tier 2) activity so does not use a 'discharge date'. This example illustrates where clients are counted as 'active' if they have any activity recorded during the report period.

IMS intervention categories
IMS intervention activity is recorded within these general category descriptions. Activity is also recorded with an 'Intervention Type' description which can be customised to meet the needs of individual services.

IMS events and presentations
IMS events include the annual IMS user group event, and annual DRD (drug related death) conferences. In addition to use by Local Authority Public Health commissioners data from IMS has been presented at internation harm reduction conferences and in harm reduction publications.

IMS Drug Related Deaths portal overview
An overview of the IMS Drug Related Deaths surveillance and review system.

Local Drug Information System overview
Details about the Cheshire and Merseyside Local Drug Information System (LDIS) which is part of IMS.

PHI Intelligence and Surveillance systems

This demonstration video shows two of the monitoring systems developed by the Public Health Intelligence Unit. Firstly and introduction to the Trauma and Injury Intelligence Group (TIIG), and the use of data to create 'Violence Reduction Data Hubs', and secondly (from 10:40) an overview of the IMS Drug Related Deaths portal.