Is NWW about having specialist inpatient consultant psychiatrists, or cutting the number of consultant psychiatrists and other highly paid staff?
There is no single way to develop NWW. Specialist, inpatient consultant psychiatrists, or consultant psychiatrists working across the acute care pathway in crisis and inpatient work, are an example of NWW, and just over a third of Trusts have developed these roles, the so-called ‘functional model’, in at least part of their area. Where they have been implemented, they have been very successful, with demonstrable improvements in the inpatient experience for service users, carers and staff. The trick, then, is to ensure continuity with the community services that will always provide the bulk of care for individuals. NWW is not about cutting the number of consultant psychiatrists; indeed, there has been a large expansion in the number of consultant psychiatrist posts in recent years. The same is true of psychology. This is unlikely to continue, however, and with an ageing population and significant numbers of staff approaching retirement, alternative ways to meet the continuing rise in ex
