Abstract
The costs associated with staffing acute mentalhealth wards is the largest expenditure in theinpatient budget. Exploring skill mix and its impacton outcomes, particularly service user outcomesshould be of interest to all stakeholders involved inthe commissioning, delivery and receipt of acutemental health care. This paper describes thefindings of a literature and practice review ofinitiatives undertaken to improve staffing and skillmix, and their impact on service user outcomes.The practice review was necessary due to thepaucity of published research in this area. Bothresearch and practice initiatives do not appear to bedriven by service user need. This results in arestricted and service driven range of outcomemeasures being used. The paper concludes byproposing recommendations for future workforcedevelopment in acute mental health settings.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 25-33 |
Journal | The Journal of Mental Health Training, Education and Practice |
Volume | 2 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2007 |