Book review
| Pages | 35-35 |
| Published date | 18 May 2009 |
| Date | 18 May 2009 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/17556228200900006 |
| Author | Paul Barrett |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care |
35
The Journal of Mental Health Training, Education and Practice Volume 4 Issue 1 March 2009 © Pavilion Journals (Brighton) Ltd
Book review
Clinical Management in Mental Health Services
Edited by Chris Lloyd, Robert King, Frank P Deane and Kevin Gournay
Wiley–Blackwell, 2008
Paperback, 189 pages
Price: £29.99
ISBN: 978 1 4051 6977 6
This useful volume is targeted at those who occupy junior
management positions in mental health services. This
group are frequently promoted clinicians and are likely to
have received little formal management training.
The editors and authors engage well with a range of
issues that occupy leaders at this level; covering how to
manage people as well as working with organisational
systems such as budgets, information, dealing with critical
incidents and enhancing quality. The only dimensions
that they fail to tackle are those around managing
recruitment, cult ure and diversity. Th e chapters are
largely contextualised around the shifts in mental health
service delivery towards recovery, community and
multidisciplinary working.
The authors largely adopt a directive style, however,
this is not at the expense of glossing over the real life
difficulties that might be faced. The book is suffused
with practical advice and exemplars that score high
on relevance and workability. The chapter on budget
management was particularly useful in helping me to cost
a new service proposal.
Some of the occupational hazards of junior management
are also explicitly ack nowledged. In particular, the
dissonance between identifying with staff as well as
being expected to implement the strategic imperatives of
the organisation. The chapters on managing workload,
clinical supervision, and stress and burnout provide
balance by emphasising the importance of taking care of
the workforce.
Given that nearly all of the authors inhabit the
southern hemisphere there is a strong antipodean
orientation. The frequent references to Australian policy
and protocols require the reader to grapple for UK
comparisons. Something is lost in the conventional
understandings of management and mental heath. For
example, the recovery orientation pays scant attention to
the role that consumers can play in managing services.
The latest developments such as self-directed teams and
360 degree appraisals are also neglected.
Overall, this is a useful and informative contribution
to the limited literature around management in mental
health services. However, a little more thought about
the UK audience as well as the changing nature of health
management would have further strengthened its appeal.
Reviewed by Paul Barrett
Consulta nt Nu rse, Lincolns hire Partnership NHS
Foundation Trust and Visiting Fellow University of Lincoln.
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