18 April 2003
Action must be taken to tackle staff shortages in mental health services, two leading think-tanks said this week.
In separate publications, the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health (SCMH) and the King's Fund said not enough was being done to retain existing staff.
In A mental health workforce for the future, the SCMH said managers were instead 'patching up' the service with new recruits.
'In an ageing society where public service pay has fallen behind rising property prices, this approach is no longer feasible,' said Malcolm Philip, lead author of the SCMH book.
'Workforce planning has for too long existed on the margins of NHS and social services management. Yet it is crucial to the future of mental health care. Users and former users of services can be brought into the workforce in greater numbers, and a concerted effort to develop a more diverse workforce can be made.'
In London's mental health workforce, the King's Fund said staff shortages in the capital were at crisis levels. Vacancy rates among mental health nurses were 13%–23%, compared with an average of 6.1% in the general acute sector in London.
Report author Pippa Gough said better safety in some of London's mental health hospitals, as well as cutting excessive workloads and improving housing opportunities, were the keys to easing staff shortages.
'Acute mental health wards can be challenging, stressful and dangerous working environments. Nurses are increasingly vulnerable to violent and intimidating behaviour, and patients are also losing out when ward environments are unsafe,' she added.
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