Supporting Change: Implementing New Ways of Working in East Lancashire
| Pages | 10-14 |
| Date | 01 October 2007 |
| Published date | 01 October 2007 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/13619322200700025 |
| Author | Paul Greenwood,Tony Ryan,John Keaveny,Ripu Deo |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care |
Paul Greenwood
Regional Lead Mental Health Act & Mental Capacity Act, Care Services Improvement Partnership North West
Dr Tony Ryan
Director, Tony Ryan Associates
John Keaveny
Network Director, Adult Mental Health and Social Care Service, Lancashire Care NHS Trust and Lancashire County Council
Dr Ripu Deo
Associate Medical Director, Adult Mental Health and Social Care, Lancashire Care NHS Trust
Supporting Change:
Implementing New Ways
of Working in East Lancashire
Abstract
This article describes the processes undertaken to implement change in East Lancashire adult mental health services
through New Ways of Working. The views of users, carers and staff of the services at the start of the project are
described, and an overview offered of the development work that took place to support the change. Barriers to
change are also described.
Key words
New Ways of Working, multidisciplinary teams, workforce agenda, adult services
and recruitment and retention problems (Pidd,
2003). Traditional sector-based teams have often
been stretched to deliver a service, with consultants
torn between meeting the needs of community and
inpatient services.
New Ways of Working sees a new approach to the
consultant’s role and multidisciplinary team (MDT)
functioning:
’The approach is service user centred in that it
focuses on the skills and competencies required
of a team … it provides a systematic and stepped
approach to ensure a methodical review of services
within the context of national initiatives and
guidance as well as local circumstances’
(Department of Health et al, 2005).
The Supporting Change project
Lancashire Care Trust delivers secondary mental health
services in East Lancashire with its local authority
In recent years new teams and new roles within
specialist mental health services have stimulated
professional groups to review their practice within
the wider workforce. An important focus has been
on robust multidisciplinary team-working and
person-centred care.
New Ways of Working for Psychiatrists (Department
of Health et al, 2005), the Chief Nursing Officer
Review of Mental Health Nursing (Department of
Health, 2005), Creating Capable Teams Approach
(Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health & National
Institute for Mental Health in England (NIMHE),
2006) and Ten Essential Shared Capabilities (NIMHE,
2004) are some of the key documents driving the
workforce agenda. A view has emerged that ’new
models of working for the whole workforce are
required to achieve the most effective system of care’
(Department of Health et al, 2003).
Psychiatrists have expressed concerns about high
caseloads, excessive bureaucracy, a culture of blame,
Mental Health Review Journal Volume 12 Issue 3 October 2007 © Pavilion Journals (Brighton) Ltd
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