Shropshire and Staffordshire Clinical Psychology Doctorate

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Shropshire and Staffordshire Clinical Psychology
Doctorate

• Involvement of service users and carers
• Christine Blincoe
• Karen Smith

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Involving carers service users in the programme

• Service user panel
• Contribution to teaching sessions for trainees
  clinical supervisors
• Input to policy development
• Involvement in selection

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Involving users carers in selection

• New programme 1st intake September 2004
• Service users carers involved in selection of
  both cohorts
• Service users carers attend meetings of the
  Selection Sub Committee
• 2004
• Interviewing 5 service users carers
• 2005
• Short listing 2 service users carers
• Interviewing 4 service users carers

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Feedback

• Candidates(45)
• 5 positive comments re service user involvement
• Having a service user present was very
  encouraging I talked more about my experience
  in the voluntary sector than perhaps I would have
  done if she wasnt there
• Supervisors(42 response)
• What is the potential contribution of service
  users to the selection process?
• Very important 80
• Very limited contribution 20
• I have some reservation about service users
  participating unless they have/have been given a
  thorough understanding of the profession the
  tasks, experience, knowledge understanding
  required to be a good enough clinician
• How well were service users/carers involved in
  selection?
• Extremely well 40
• Moderately well -60

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Feed back Service Users Carers

• 70 response 2 cohorts
• 71 had opportunity to express views in planning
  of selection process
• 100 felt the process was adequately planned
• 100 felt included as a full member in the
  process
• 100 felt their views on the applicants carried
  sufficient weight
• 86 thought their inclusion in the process
  affected the final outcome
• I was able to highlight prejudice avoid
  including people with unsuitable attitudes
• 100 felt comfortable as part of the process
• I found everyone very pleasant nice to meet
  which helped enormously in overcoming the
  nervousness of being a user certainly made one
  feel more comfortable
• Comments-
• Hopefully the selection process was improved
  enhanced by the inclusion of service users and
  carers with their experience of having been on
  the receiving end of the mental health system
• Various recommendations about ways to improve the
  process

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Issues needing further work

• How to meaningfully involve service users from a
  range of client groups?
• How to provide sufficient information to enable
  service users carers to contribute without
  being overwhelmed ?
• How best to prepare service users carers for
  involvement in the selection process?
• Can service users carers meaningfully
  contribute to academic/clinical interviews or is
  it better for them to contribute to personal
  suitability interviews?