1. Message from the President: President's Appeal to support
the College's international work
Dear Colleagues
This month I am launching my President’s Appeal to support the
College’s International work. Many of you already contribute to
this programme as volunteers, offering help and training in some of
the developing countries where our members are working. I am
delighted to let you know about an exciting new opportunity for
members to support the College’s overseas work.
A fund-raising trek to Sri Lanka will be held in January
2009. This 9-day trek through tea plantations, jungle
terrain, forests and mountains, will enable you to experience the
extraordinary natural beauty of Sri Lanka. Afterwards, there
will be an opportunity to visit some local psychiatric
services. For more information about the Sri Lanka Trek, please
email lcowan@rcpsych.ac.uk.
If you would like to join my husband and myself on the trek then
I do encourage you to register early as there are a limited number
of places.
I am also hoping to set up a fund to provide bursaries towards
some of the costs of our
volunteer programme.
Professor Sheila Hollins, President of the Royal College of
Psychiatrists
2. Stalking of psychiatrists: a study for the Royal College of
Psychiatrists
In 2007, the College commissioned a study of stalking of its
members. Stalking is common; depending on the definition of
stalking, 2-15% of Western populations report this happening. It is
distressing and dangerous, and can result in serious harm to a
victim’s health and wellbeing. Moreover, doctors and other
healthcare professionals are at higher than average risk. However,
until now no large-scale study has investigated psychiatrists’
experiences of being stalked.
A quarter of the membership completed stalking questionnaires. A
greater proportion - 21.3% - considered themselves to have been
stalked. Even more College members – approximately 1 in 3 – had
experiences stalking behaviours that met the legal definition of
harassment.
On average, one College member became the victim of a new series
of stalking behaviours every week (51 new members per year).
The Stalking of Psychiatrists Study was carried out by Drs Seán
Whyte, Catherine Penny, Simon Christopherson, Edward Petch and
David Reiss on behalf of the Royal College of Psychiatrists.
3. Update on the activities of the Welsh Division
The Welsh Division was particularly busy during 2007. The
Division was involved with the response to the proposed new Mental
Health Act and is part of the Implementation Reference Group, which
continues to work on the Code of Practice for Wales. The National
Assembly for Wales is proposing to take backbench legislation in
the form of a Legislative Competency Order with regards to the new
Act, and the Division hopes to engage in this process of
interpretation and implementation.
The Division has developed a two-way consultative relationship
with the Welsh Assembly Government. The chair of the Division meets
with government officials to discuss issues of priority for mental
health services in Wales.
The Division has contributed to reviews of service developments
including the strategic review of secure mental health services in
Wales and the Burrows Greenwell review of the structure of mental
health services across Wales. Both reviews are due to report in
early 2008.
The Division has funding from the College Images of Psychiatry
campaign to hold a debate for young people in the early summer.
The Division Biannual General Meeting is on 25th April 2008 in
Swansea. This will be a joint meeting with the Welsh Psychiatric
Society. The two organisations are working with the University
Departments of Psychiatry in Wales to rationalise meetings for
psychiatrists.
4. Update on the Scoping Group in Undergraduate Education in
Psychiatry: Dr Nisha Dogra
There are several projects taking place.
The Scoping Group has developed a draft core curriculum. We plan
to send this out for consultation next month in the College
enewsletter.
There is Higher Education Institute Subject Centre funded
project to explore student views on psychiatry. We want to get a
sample that will include 3-4 English schools and at least one
school each from Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. This should
help us establish what are the most effective ways to promote
psychiatry as a subject for medical students.
We are also developing a website to promote psychiatry to
medical students because they have told us of the lack of promotion
of psychiatry as a career. We are inviting psychiatrists from all
subspecialties to write 500 words on 'A day in the life of an old
age psychiatrist', 'A day in the life of an academic psychiatrist'
etc. We need a few examples from each subspecialty. Please send any
pieces to me at nd13@le.ac.uk
by the end of February 2008.
We also aim to develop a website to provide support for
psychiatry teachers. We have emailed all psychiatry leads as well
as the lead primary contact at all medical schools to collate
information about Special Study Modules that are available as we
hope to encourage others to use the work already been done to set
up more SSMs. If you have good practice to share please email me:
nd13@le.ac.uk.
5. College Report 145: Sexual Boundaries
Have you noticed that the College recently published a report on
this subject? Please look at
CR145.
The Registrar, Professor Sue Bailey, is asking for your
feedback. The recommendations are as follows:
- sufficient numbers of qualified staff must be on duty at all
times
- staff must be regularly supervised
- ward design should allow sufficient space for patients to be
cared for in safety and privacy
- Trusts should have evidence bases and protocols for
treatments
- clinical staff and managers must develop an understanding of
the causes, and recognition, of sexual abuse
- each psychiatric unit should have a policy and procedures to
cover the appropriate expression of sexuality among in-patients.
The policy will address human rights, legality, capacity and
consent, contraception and cultural variance
- each unit should have a policy regarding sexual harassment,
sexual abuse and rape
- there should be regular audits of incidents, complaints and
allegations, patient attitudes to policies, and staff attitudes and
adherence to policies
- senior management must support training in the prevention,
recognition and management of abusive and potentially abusive
situations
- patient information should be readily available
Please click here to see her letter. Send your comments to
dhart@rcpsych.ac.uk
6. Tooke Review – final report
The final report of the Tooke Review published earlier this
month has said that the government should be stripped of its
responsibility for overseeing the training of junior doctors. The
report by Professor Sir John Tooke calls for an independent body to
control the recruitment of junior doctors, arguing the Department
of Health should not be in charge of funds for their training.
The interim report in October said the introduction of the new
Modernising Medical Careers (MMC) system had been rushed and lacked
cohesion; the final report completes these criticisms.
Two important changes to the interim report’s recommendations
include the formation of NHS: Medical Education England (NHS:MEE),
which Sir John and his colleagues say will be able to articulate
the principles of postgraduate training and implement it
successfully. The report warns that training could suffer when the
European Working Time Directive comes fully into force next year.
The limit on doctors’ working hours will mean that there is not
enough time to train them to the skill levels needed. We need a way
to enable doctors to continue to work legally for more than 48
hours a week — perhaps by separating work on the wards from
training time. The report also criticises the wording of the online
application forms, after it was claimed good candidates were not
selected for interviews while some consultants reportedly walked
out of interviews in despair at the poor quality of candidates
selected by the system.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article3149316.ece
The DH welcomed the report. "It is an excellent piece of work
and its contents have found favour with a wide cross section of the
medical profession and others involved in medical education and
training. Some of the long terms issues, including the role of the
doctors and the shape of the future workforce, are already key
parts of Lord Darzi's NHS Review. We will be looking to produce a
response to Sir John's recommendations as soon as possible." The
British Medical Association (BMA) has already warned it expects the
recruitment situation to worsen this year, with three applicants
set to compete for every post in 2008, up from two applicants in
2007.
You can read our response here
http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/pressparliament/pressreleases2006/pr975.aspx
You can read the report here http://www.mmcinquiry.org.uk/MMC_FINAL_REPORT_REVD_4jan.pdf
7. The American College of Psychiatrists 2008 Award Recipients:
John Geddes MD named an Honorary Fellow
The American College of Psychiatrists awards Honorary
Fellowships in the College to distinguished professionals who have
made significant scientific and clinical contributions to the field
of psychiatry. John Geddes is Senior Clinical Research Fellow and
Professor of Epidemiological Psychiatry at the University of
Oxford. He also serves as Chief Investigator on the BALANCE and
CEQUEL-FA trials and is Director of the Centre for Evidence Based
Mental Health.
The American College of Psychiatrists is a not-for-profit
honorary association dedicated to providing continuing education to
its Members, promoting the latest advances in the specialty, and
supporting the highest standards in psychiatry. Membership in The
College is limited to 750 practicing psychiatrists who have
demonstrated outstanding competence and national recognition in the
field of psychiatry.
8. German Berrios, Professor of Psychiatry Emeritus at the
University of Cambridge, has been presented with Peru's highest
national honour.
The award of the Order El Sol del Peru recognises Professor
Berrios’ lifetime achievement in his field. It commends notable
merit in the civil and military spheres. Professor Berrios has been
made a Grand Officer of the Order, the highest rank available for
civil achievement.
His research has focused on the psychiatric complications of
neurological isease, and the history and structure of the study of
mental illness.
Professor Berrios was born in Tacna, Peru, and studied medicine
and philosophy at the University of San Marcos in Lima. Since 1977
he has taught at Cambridge, in the departments of Psychiatry and
the History and Philosophy of Science. He edits the international
journal History of Psychiatry, which he co-founded in 1989 with Roy
Porter. In 2006, a chair in Descriptive Psychopathology was
established at the University of Antioquia, in Medellin, Colombia,
in his name
9. BMA survey of assaults on doctors
A survey by the BMA last year has shown that one in three
doctors was assaulted, either physically or verbally, in the last
12 months but most did not report it. One in 10 of the 591 doctors
across Britain who responded said they had been physically
attacked. Of these, 5% were seriously injured, and a third suffered
minor injuries. However, the BMA said many did not report the
incidents, suggesting an increasing acceptance of violence.
Physical assaults reported by doctors in England, Scotland and
Wales included being punched, kicked, bitten and spat on. Doctors
said dissatisfaction with services was the main reason cited for
the attacks, including frustration with waiting times and being
refused medication.
Case Study: Assault by a patient
Consultant psychiatrist Dr Fiona Blake, 51, suffered a broken
nose when a seriously mentally ill male patient punched her in the
face, and kicked her in a corridor at Fulbourn Hospital, Cambridge,
in June 2006. The man, who was later convicted of the attack, was
apparently angry that Dr Blake would not discharge him. She said.
"He was very ill but I don't think he hit me because he was ill,
but because he did not get what he wanted. "It was a terrible shock
and I questioned myself for weeks afterwards about whether I had
made a misjudgment about him.
"When I came back to work I was more concerned to protect
myself, to think about possible injury."
For more on the story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7178777.stm
10. Our NHS, Our Future Review online questionnaires
The Our NHS, Our Future team has launched online questionnaires
to help more people play a part in the Review. The questions are
largely open-ended to allow staff the space to contribute their
ideas and provide detail. Staff should not feel that they have to
answer all the questions, but just those on issues they feel
strongly about or that touch on areas where they have expertise.
The staff/stakeholder questionnaire will be available until 15th
February and the questionnaire aimed at the public until 25th
February.
http://www.ournhs.nhs.uk/2008/01/04/play-your-part-with-our-online-questionnaire
11. Events