Lack of permanent psychiatrists is a cause for concern
A charity is calling for psychiatric care by NHS Scotland to improve.
Membership body VOX Scotland launched its report, Your Views: Psychiatrists in Scotland, calling on the Scottish Government to work with it to develop and implement an action plan to improve the experience of people across Scotland who receive psychiatry care.
The report documents the findings of a VOX Scotland survey looking at the experience of those who have received care from a psychiatrist under NHS Scotland within the past five years and builds on data provided under Freedom of Information detailing the use and cost of locum psychiatrists in Scotland’s health boards.
The survey, carried out over the summer, received almost 500 responses covering every health board area, giving a comprehensive picture of care experience across the country, and highlights the scale and impact of the use of locum psychiatrists with almost one third of respondents having received care from ‘all’ or ‘mostly’ locum psychiatrists in the last five years and almost two-thirds expressing that they felt receiving care from a locum had negatively impacted the continuity of care they received.
Launching the report, VOX Scotland manager, Natalie Stevenson said: “The responses we received showed a direct correlation between access to a permanent psychiatrist over a sustained period of time and the quality and continuity of care received.
“Most respondents who received locum care saw two or more psychiatrists and this often resulted in low continuity of care, poorer outcomes and significant distress.
“Across more than one hundred qualitative answers from those with experience of locum psychiatrist care, whilst some reported receiving a high quality of care, many shared the detrimental impact of their psychiatrist(s) changing over short periods of time.
“The growing lack of permanent psychiatrists is a significant cause for concern, both in terms of the impact on those receiving care and cost to health boards. We echo calls from the Royal College of Psychiatrists in Scotland to urgently address the need for better recruitment and retention of NHS Psychiatrists, and a systematic cessation of non-qualified locums acting as consultant psychiatrists.
“Our findings also highlighted areas where action is desperately needed in the provision of psychiatry care across the board. This includes improving transitions for people moving within the mental health care system, and greater training and support to ensure the care provided aligns with all elements of the core mental health standards.”
“We look forward to presenting the findings of our research to the Scottish Government and working collaboratively to ensure a strong future workforce, full delivery of the core mental health standards, and better quality psychiatric care for everyone who needs it.”
