Journal of nursing management
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This study set out to investigate general practitioners (GPs) views on a Mental Health Service. It seeks their views on how well the Trust is providing those services and suggestions for change and development of the service. ⋯ The survey was used to inform Trust Management of GPs views and as a basis for meetings with GPs about the service. As a result new services have been developed.
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Recent changes in UK legislation concerning community care of mentally ill people have initiated comprehensive changes in the delivery of healthcare. The NHS and Community Care Act (Department of Health 1990) added impetus to the run down of residential facilities and the speed of development of community mental health services. A community mental health intensive care team was established in Essex and employed a high ratio of unqualified to qualified staff. At a time of tension within the Health Service around issues such as skill mix and unemployment among qualified nurses, it was perhaps not unreasonable that the introduction of healthcare assistants might be viewed with suspicion, as a way of diluting the workforce with a less expensive alternative. The importance of evaluating new services is self-evident. ⋯ It is self-evident that the clients' expressed satisfaction with the care provided by healthcare assistants argues against the professional ideology of nursing, which proposed that nursing may only be given by those with a statutory qualification. A complementary role for healthcare assistants in the provision of mental health care is proposed.