Mental health hospital staff need more and better training, says new practical guide

3 June 2004

People working in acute mental health hospitals need more opportunities for training tailored to the work they do, says a guide published today by the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health (SCMH) and the National Institute for Mental Health in England (NIMHE).

The guide, Adult Acute Inpatient Care: Training, education and continuous professional development for all, aims to set the agenda for acute care training for the coming decade. It sets out the kind of training that all practitioners who work in acute hospitals need to offer service users better care and support. They need to be offered ‘work-based learning’ opportunities to undertake training relevant to their jobs, often with other members of their teams.

Steve Clarke, author of the guide and SCMH acute care programme lead, said: “Mental health hospital staff often receive little training once they qualify for their jobs. What they do get is frequently not tailored to the particular challenges of working in hospital care. It is vital they get sufficient time set aside for training, and that what they are offered is relevant to their work.

“Hospital staff only see service users at their most vulnerable. They rarely encounter people with mental health problems outside the hospital environment. This can create a sense of hopelessness and a failure to help users to prepare for life back in their communities.”

The guide calls for more opportunities for staff to receive training from service users, to help them see the role of hospital care in facilitating recovery and inclusion. Several useful tools are provided for practitioners, higher education staff, service users and commissioners.

Paul Rooney, Joint Programme Lead for Acute Inpatient Care at NIMHE said "This guidance is a very welcome addition to the national implementation programme. It will help us to develop and sustain improvement in our acute inpatient services. Given the key job inpatient staff play, it will contribute to growing awareness that, how education training and professional development are provided, is key to our future success".

Download the Acute Care guide (179 KB)