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New Ways of Working

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Dave Anderson*
Affiliation:
Faculty of Old Age Psychiatry, Mersey Care National Health Service Trust, Older People's Mental Health Services, Sir Douglas Crawford Unit, Mossley Hill Hospital, Park Avenue, Liverpool L18 8BU, email: Helen.Bickerton@merseycare.nhs.uk
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Abstract

Type
The columns
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2008

Being told that New Ways of Working is a new way of working is not enlightening (tautologies are true but rarely helpful) but demonstrates the problem - it is whatever you decide it is.

Redefining the role of a psychiatrist is fine but Vize et al (Psychiatric Bulletin, February 2008, 32, ) provide another tautology - ‘a role that encompasses the full scope of the work in which psychiatrists could be involved’. What people do is whatever is decided they do but this statement does not give a new ‘what’.

New Ways of Working arose from a crisis in consultant recruitment, a mismatch between consultant expansion and training numbers (Reference GoldbergGoldberg, 2008); from perceived necessity, not choice, and as such it is a pragmatic business solution to a particular demand and resource problem, not better patient care. Changing roles is not new and was happening throughout medicine. Let's be honest, not grandiose.

New Ways of Working is now used to legitimise redesign of any sort with services being destroyed for business reasons. Is it person centred or organisation centred? To improve the lives of psychiatrists or patients? Ironically, we will soon overproduce psychiatrists under Modernising Medical Careers while facing an impending crisis of nurse shortage.

Alternative ways of working are essential because solutions to the problems of one person, service, specialty or point in time may not be the solution for others.

Vize et al must be clear not only what New Ways of Working is but also what it is not. Otherwise, it becomes whatever people, including primary care trusts and trust managers, decide it is. Everything is good because it is New Ways of Working. However, ‘new’ is not enough and ‘new’ is not necessarily good!

References

Goldberg, D. (2008) Improved investment in mental health services: value for money? British Journal of Psychiatry, 192, 8891.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
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