Call for UK-wide alliance of mental health nurses

The pivotal role specialist mental health nurses play in the recovery of patients and a call for a UK-wide alliance of members of the profession will be highlighted at the Mental Health Practice Conference on May 10.

These will be key points in a presentation by Professor Tony Butterworth on his review of mental health nursing called Playing Our Part.

One in four people in the UK can have a common mental health disorder at any one time. Yet there is a suggestion that specialist registration for mental health nurses should be discontinued.

Transformation

Playing our Part is the year-long investigation of the work of graduate and registered mental health nurses undertaken by the Foundation of Nursing Studies. It rejects the notion that mental health registration should be discontinued and, having canvassed the thoughts of the profession, people who use the service, researchers, policy makers and educators, makes recommendations for how the service can transform.

Professor Butterworth will share the 20 key messages that have emerged from this work and suggest changes that will enable graduate and registered mental health nurses to have an ongoing, vital role in providing care and preventing illness.

Policy changes

The report calls for the skill set of 36,000 registered mental health nurses to be taken into consideration when making policy changes that impact mental health support in our schools, workplaces and communities.

Professor Butterworth will be joined at the conference by Sean Duggan, chief executive of Mental Health Network, who will discuss a five-year vision of the NHS mental health service. Professor Jenny Shaw from The University of Manchester will discuss the latest developments in suicide strategy, and Inspector Michael Brown will look at the involvement of police in the revised Mental Health Act.

Registrations

Registrations are still being accepted for the conference, which will take place at the Manchester Conference Centre on 10 May.

More information here.