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Does extra staff change clinical practice? A prospective study of the impact of extra resources in mental health teams
Author(s) -
Kent A.,
Fiander M.,
Burns T.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
acta psychiatrica scandinavica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.849
H-Index - 146
eISSN - 1600-0447
pISSN - 0001-690X
DOI - 10.1034/j.1600-0447.2003.02386.x
Subject(s) - mental health , schedule , psychology , medicine , work schedule , nursing , work (physics) , applied psychology , psychiatry , computer science , engineering , operating system , mechanical engineering
Objective: To compare patterns of clinical activity amongst existing staff in two inner‐city community mental health teams before and after their enhancement with extra resources using a new activity schedule containing 11 comprehensive and mutually exclusive practice categories. Method: Patterns of clinical activity amongst existing members of two inner‐London community mental health teams were compared before and after the addition of extra resources. Results: The amount of time spent in face‐to‐face contact with patients and carers showed no meaningful change following team enhancement. Patterns of clinical activity amongst team members remained relatively static. Conclusion: Adding resources to community mental teams without considering how to target the time released amongst existing staff may reduce their capacity to work more innovatively.