Decision making, responsibility and accountability in community mental health teams
Intended for healthcare professionals
Art & Science Previous     Next

Decision making, responsibility and accountability in community mental health teams

Nasur Iqbal Clinical psychologist, North Manchester General Hospital
Madeleine Rees Trainee clinical psychologist, University of Liverpool
Clare Backer Clinical psychologist, Crisis Resolution Home Treatment Team in Central Manchester

Nasur Iqbal and colleagues clarify how roles have changed under the new ways of working in the health service

Community mental health teams comprise many professionals who share the common goal of contributing to their clients’ care and their recovery. Sometimes this leads to confusion about who takes the lead in making decisions or has responsibility when there is no consensus of opinion.

Current policies about new ways of working may be contrary to historical or cultural sensitivities. Multidisciplinary teams have collective responsibility to make consensus decisions addressing the whole biopsychosocial perspective of care for the individual service user. Ambiguities about roles should be recognised and resolved by the employing organisation.

Mental Health Practice. 17, 7, 26-28. doi: 10.7748/mhp2014.04.17.7.26.e926

Correspondence

nasur.iqbal@mhsc.nhs.uk

Peer review

This article has been subject to double blind peer review

Conflict of interest

None declared

Received: 06 September 2013

Accepted: 01 October 2013

Want to read more?

RCNi-Plus
Already have access? Log in

or

3-month trial offer for £5.25/month

Subscribe today and save 50% on your first three months
RCNi Plus users have full access to the following benefits:
  • Unlimited access to all 10 RCNi Journals
  • RCNi Learning featuring over 175 modules to easily earn CPD time
  • NMC-compliant RCNi Revalidation Portfolio to stay on track with your progress
  • Personalised newsletters tailored to your interests
  • A customisable dashboard with over 200 topics
Subscribe

Alternatively, you can purchase access to this article for the next seven days. Buy now


Are you a student? Our student subscription has content especially for you.
Find out more