Debbie Goode and colleagues assess whether staff are prepared to offer person-centred care to all people who present to emergency departments

This article presents findings from the first phase of a two-part study that examined the knowledge and experience of emergency department (ED) staff who work with people with mental health needs. In the first part of the study, 19 semi-structured interviews were conducted with multidisciplinary team (MDT) members and the results were analysed. The interviews covered the ED environment, participants’ attitudes towards, ability to communicate with, and knowledge and experience of patients with mental health needs. One of the study’s main findings was that MDT members require more appropriate training to raise their awareness of issues related to mental health. The findings informed the development of a questionnaire, which was distributed to a large cohort of ED staff and social workers.