The Acute Inpatient Practice Development Network: A Change Management Initiative
| Date | 01 March 2003 |
| Published date | 01 March 2003 |
| Pages | 22-26 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/13619322200300005 |
| Author | Bernie Delord |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care |
The Acute Inpatient Practice
Development Network:
A Change Management Initiative
Bernie Delord
Practice Development Manager/
Mental Health Trainer
Cornwall Healthcare NHS Trust
Focus on…
he Acute Inpatient Practice
Development Network, set up by the Centre for
Mental Health Service Development (CMHSD) and
the Florence Nightingale Division of Nursing Studies,
King’s College London, is an initiative to support trusts
throughout the country in improving acute inpatient
care for mental health service users.
The Network is a two-year process of change for
developing practical, evidence-based skills with a
stronger user focus and for supporting organisations so
as to enable changes to happen.
Aims
■To support practical evidenced-based care in
mental health acute inpatient settings.
■To change the culture of inpatient care to a
more user-focused model.
■To engage service users and staff at all levels in
identifying priorities for change.
■To help support and empower nursing staff and
those working in other disciplines in providing
modern inpatient care and in mobilising
community resources.
■To contribute to the development, evaluation
and dissemination of best practice.
■To raise the profile of good quality inpatient
care.
TThe project launch
The project was launched by Cornwall Healthcare
NHS Trust in March 1999 at Bodmin. Over 75
delegates comprising service users, link agencies and
health professionals attended and the following
priorities for change were identified:
■communication between disciplines
■involvement of all disciplines
■staffing levels to allow quality treatment plans
and implementation, one-to-one time and
activities
■unified records across the trust – properly
financed and resourced
■increased patient involvement in care planning
■multidisciplinary treatment plans
■management styles – nurturing
■more carrot, less stick (enabling and
empowerment)
■bottom-up rather than top-down
■unit-based staff determine priorities for change
■improved liaison with other units both
regionally/locally
■more evidence-based practice.
A specific project for change was identified for each of
the four acute inpatient wards in the trust:
■Harrison Clinic: implementing a group-work
programme
■St Aubyn Villa: spending more one-to-one time
with clients
■Gwaynten: improving communication
22 The Mental Health Review Volume 8 Issue 1 March 2003 ©Pavilion Publishing (Brighton) 2003
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