Realising Potential: An Action Plan for Allied Health Professionals in Mental Health

Section 5 Summary of recommendations

RECOMMENDATION 1 - NHS boards

Should fully engage AHPs in leading the rehabilitation of people with mental health problems, developing new models, systems and ways of working to facilitate early intervention and timely access for service users and carers.

RECOMMENDATION 2 - AHP mental health leads, working with AHP leads in community health partnerships ( CHPs)

Should promote an integrated approach to service delivery by encouraging collaborative working between primary care services and AHPs in mental health and by linking specialist, community and social care AHP teams to ensure integrated services and smooth transitions between services for service users and carers.

RECOMMENDATION 3 - AHP services in mental health

Will use the Scottish Recovery Indicators tool as part of team approaches to service delivery to promote recovery-orientated services by June 2011.

RECOMMENDATION 4 - AHP mental health leads

Should ensure the provision of evidence-based, socially inclusive and accessible physical activity rehabilitation programmes for service users and carers.

RECOMMENDATION 5 - AHP mental health leads

Should ensure regular nutritional screening is available to service users at each stage of their care journey, with nutritional services working closely with specialist AHPs.

RECOMMENDATION 6 - AHP mental health leads

Should work with partners to promote and enhance the provision of evidence-based, socially inclusive and accessible therapeutic activity provision in a range of settings.

RECOMMENDATION 7 - NHS boards

Should ensure the delivery of evidence-based psychological interventions by appropriately trained AHPs to support rehabilitation, self-management and recovery approaches as part of local delivery strategies.

RECOMMENDATION 8 - AHP mental health leads

Should ensure that AHPs in mental health who deliver psychological interventions as a primary role have access to clinical supervision within protected time.

RECOMMENDATION 9 - AHPs in mental health, working from a recognition of the importance of work in promoting recovery

Should explore work issues at all initial service-user assessments and provide ongoing signposting or support to increase service users' potential for work.

RECOMMENDATION 10 - AHP mental health leads, working with key stakeholders

Should ensure the provision of alternative occupational, leisure and educational activities for service users whose vocational goals are not employment-focused.

RECOMMENDATION 11 - NHS boards and AHP directors

Should identify an AHP mental health lead, developing a sustainable clinical leadership function that reflects proposed service delivery changes.

RECOMMENDATION 12 - AHPs

Should use information gathered while providing AHP interventions to evaluate the service user experience, enhance the evidence base and improve services using patient-reported outcome measures and standardised assessments.

" [The day centre for older people] is a great place for [my wife] ... She likes the company and she is very good at crafts … she gets a great help here and so do I, I get a tremendous help here from the whole system. "

Carer : Experience of day care