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Workshops on Mental Health Laws and Skills Management
Successful negotiations means that it meets most of your
interests, is also seen fair by the other party and is
better than the alternatives
Mental Health legislation will be subject to challenge by Human Rights Act 1983

Coventry (UK): On the last day of the Midland Psychiatric Research Group meeting, two workshops were organized for the interested participants. One of the workshops on Mental Health Law was chaired by Dr. Somasunderam where Dr. M. Quasim and Mr. Doug Feery were the speakers.

Compulsions under the Mental Health Act 1983, criteria for compulsion, justification for compulsory treatment, common law, psychiatry and common law, types of consent, conditions of consent, capacity which is the ability to perform, a brief outline of the Mental Capacity Act 2005, guidelines for preparing medical reports for mental health review tribunals Human Rights Act 1998 and Mental Health Act 1983 were discussed in detail. It was made clear that UK Mental Health Act 1983 or any future reformed mental health legislation will be subject to challenge by the Human Rights Act 1998 especially as far as detention and treatment of mentally disordered is concerned.

Skills Management

The other workshop was on Skills Management which was chaired by Dr. Abid Khan while a representative from Eli Lilly was the main speaker. Speaking about the influencing wheel he mentioned No Hurry, No Trust, No Need and No Help. One must listen and show by doing as an example which is known as professionalism. It is important to build credibility. No need mean that one must identify and then satisfy those needs. Continuing, he pointed out that management with clinical experience alone is not on. He laid emphasis on professionalism, ethical belief, competence, trustworthiness and confidence. It is also important that one must ensure high level of respect for the profession.

Speaking about key elements of successful negotiations it was pointed out that it must be a win win situation for both the parties which takes care of the interest of both parties. For example if the government asks a clinical director of a Trust to close the wards, he or she must negotiate with the authorities as to what they will get in return since safety of service is more important than the number of beds. Creative negotiations is a process whereby two or more parties through discussion and creativity confront a problem, arrive at innovative solution that best meets the needs of  both the parties and also secures their commitment for fulfillment of the agreement reached. 

Successful negotiations,  Mr. Peter Carey opined means that it meets all or most of your interests, is also seen fair by the other party, is better than the alternatives, it concludes efficiently in terms of time and cost, leaves no party at disadvantage and it will be implemented and last. Furthermore it leaves both parties happy and they continue to work  with enhanced respect. Negotiations, it was stated are not born but they are made.

Benefits of delegation and empowering people, difference between dumping and delegation, delegating as per capability were also discussed in detail. Some people are afraid of delegating because they fear of losing their control or feel insecure.  Some of the other reasons which were given for not delegating to others were It takes time to train. No authority as the buck stops somewhere else. Since they failed in the past, they cannot be given any new responsibility or I will get the kudos in case of success. Some people feel that it is much quicker to do it themselves. At times there is no body to delegate, force or habit and certain personal fears etc. No skills, it was stated, is no knowledge.

Talking about developing skills, Mr. Peter emphasized that one must select the right staff, train and develop individuals.  Briefing and checking for understanding, standing back and supporting, controlling in a sensible and sensitive way were also highlighted. Facts to be considered in delegation continuum were also discussed in detail.  Unconscious or conscious incompetent are those who are disillusioned learners, conscious competence means reluctant contributor while unconscious competence stands for peak performers.

Team development

Speaking about team development, he referred to a book by B. W. Tuckman 1965 which discusses various phases of team development.  These are:

Forming:  In this phase there are high expectations and depends on authority.

Storming: In this one has a feeling of frustration, dis-satisfaction, competing experience and discrepancy.

Morning: In this phase people start developing trust and support, every one is more open and sharing respect.

Performing: This is the phase wherein one feels happy with the team, shows leadership and there is job confidence in achieving.

Mourning: This is the phase which describes the time when some member of the team leaves.

At times one may perform better but it is useful to go through this exercise. Whenever there is a new member in the team, the team starts splitting. Hence, one has to wait and no one can escape from such a situation. Speaking about the transition curve Mr. Peter Carey mentioned its different stages i.e. shocking, denial, incompetence, letting go, test out, searching for meaning and finally integration. McKinney’s  seven Ss Mr. Peter Carey stated stands for Structure, Strategy, System, Style, Staff , Skills and they all combined together result in Shared values. Mr. Peter Carey can be contacted at e mail: carry_peter_a@lilly.com