Evaluating workforce needs for higher specialist training for psychiatry of intellectual disability in Kent, Surrey and Sussex: a workforce scoping service evaluation
Advances in Mental Health and Intellectual Disabilities
ISSN: 2044-1282
Article publication date: 2 February 2023
Issue publication date: 15 February 2023
Abstract
Purpose
Whilst recruitment and retention of high-quality staff is vital to providing a good service, at the time of the evaluations, Kent, Surrey and Sussex (KSS) was the only area of the UK without a Higher Specialist Training (HST) scheme in intellectual disability (ID). The purpose of this project was to identify barriers to recruitment and support the need for change.
Design/methodology/approach
This evaluation included conducting interviews with 16 practitioners in the region with links to ID to consider the gaps in training and find solutions.
Findings
Four themes were identified, namely, good experiences are important to recruiting people into the ID field; bad experiences or lack of exposure to people with ID are likely to prevent engagement with this field; there is an ongoing need for specialist psychiatrists in ID services; and there is a developing need for specialists in neurodevelopmental disorders. Finally, the challenge means we need to think differently about developing a workforce. Seven recommendations to support workforce delivery in KSS were developed.
Originality/value
This paper highlights an important rationale for ongoing need for HST in ID work and also reasons to engage people in this field. This has not been undertaken in the ID field in this way previously.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The project was completed in 2019 through to early 2020 prior to COVID 19 restrictions with report submission to funders in 2021.
Funding: Health Education England South East, provided funding for this project.
Declaration of interest: Nil.
Ethical application: As a service review full ethical approval was not sought, but it was registered with Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (SABP) clinical governance department.
Author contribution statement: RM conceived the study and obtained funding. RM and MO completed the project and wrote the final project report of which this is a summary. RM wrote this summary article which was edited and approved by MO.
Citation
Mukherjee, R.A.S. and Ondrusz, M. (2023), "Evaluating workforce needs for higher specialist training for psychiatry of intellectual disability in Kent, Surrey and Sussex: a workforce scoping service evaluation", Advances in Mental Health and Intellectual Disabilities, Vol. 17 No. 1, pp. 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1108/AMHID-10-2022-0041
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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