Service innovations: The role of a consultant in old age psychiatry

Abstract

There is increased recognition that the role and function of a consultant psychiatrist is ill-defined and associated with excessive workloads, low job satisfaction, high levels of stress and high rates of premature retirement (Kennedy & Griffiths, 2001). This has led to an examination and debate about how consultants in general psychiatry could adapt models of working to address these difficulties, and also face the agenda of change facing the NHS as a whole and the mental health services in particular (Kennedy & Griffiths, 2001; De Silva & Sutcliffe, 2003). These challenges are not, of course, unique to general psychiatry, but as yet, there has been little debate about how consultants in other specialities, including old age psychiatry, could begin to try and address these difficulties. This article aims to stimulate debate, by describing an adapted model of working adopted by two consultants in old age psychiatry within the Hull and East Riding Community Health NHS Trust.

National trends and local delivery in old age mental health services: towards an evidence base. A mixed-methodology study of the balance of care approach, community mental health teams and specialist mental health outreach to care homes

“…Evidence on how teams were accessed, in particular the prevalence of a SPA, proved inconclusive. 19,179,197,211 Reference to the importance of sharing information was common in the literature. However, reports of the type of record system used, and whether or not shared, were rare and only present in the post 2000 literature.…”

“…A recent study found that social workers within CMHTs often had to enter data twice. 50 Core staff location was reported by seven papers 43,47,197,211,216,217,219 with a minority reporting colocation of all core members. Joint funding was reported in seven papers; either in the form of pooled budgets for individual care packages, or whether or not health and social care staff had easy access to each others' services.…”

“…Seven papers 43,47,197,211,216,217,219 reported outcome data that compared different CMHTOP approaches. All were local studies, four 188,[190][191][192] referring to exemplar teams.…”