What flexibility does the Act introduce around which professionals can perform which roles?
The Act removes rigid demarcation of professional roles and introduces a new approach which ensures that practitioners with the right skills, expertise and training can carry out important functions not currently open to them. The Approved Social Worker role will be replaced by the Approved Mental Health Professional which will be open not only to social workers but also to first level nurses whose field of practice is mental health or learning disability, occupational therapists and chartered psychologists. The Responsible Medical Officer role will be replaced by the Responsible Clinician Role, which is open to other professions as well as doctors, the same as above.
