Lay summary
This is a randomised controlled trial of a Bipolar Disorder Clinic in which one group of patients will receive usual care (usually general practice follow-up) and the other group will participate in a Bipolar Disorder Clinic that focuses on a combination of psychotherapy and medication management. The intervention focuses on promoting self-management skills such as medication use, early warning signs, lifestyle patterns, and triggers. The primary aim is to decrease the patients' mood episodes and the secondary aim is to reduce service utilisation and thus be more cost-effective than usual care. The trial addresses a current gap in mental health care for bipolar disorder by examining the clinical effectiveness of a long-term model of care delivery that takes a patient-centred approach. It is envisaged that this pragmatic, multi-disciplinary study will enable patients with bipolar disorder to have more skills and confidence in managing their disorder.