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Consultant psychiatrists' views on the supervision register

Ravenswood House, Knowle Hospital, Fareham, Hampshire PO17 5NA

Paul Wolfson, Consultant Psychiatrist

Bexley Hospital, Bexley DA5 2BW

James Lindesay, Professor of Psychiatry for the Elderly

Leicester General Hospital, Leicestershire LE5 4PW

A questionnaire on attitudes to the supervision register, about one year after its introduction, was sent to all consultant psychiatrists identified as working in the National Health Service South Thames Region. A response rate of 72.3% was obtained. Half of the respondents felt that the supervision register was not likely to reduce the risk of violence to the public by mentally disordered people and a quarter was unsure. Just over half felt confident in predicting violence, and over half felt that they had been reasonably trained to do so. Most had not changed their practice in admitting or discharging patients, or in the use of the Mental Health Act. There were criticisms of the register, for example: lack of resources needed to implement it, increased paperwork, stigmatisation of patients and the lack of a formal appeal mechanism. Fifty per cent felt the register should be abolished, only 25.5% felt it should not be.