Assertive outreach adds to staff woes

Assertive outreach teams are taking staff from
other services which then have difficulty replacing them, claimed
the director of policy at the Sainsbury Centre for Mental
Health.

Andrew
McCulloch said that there were “profound issues” around the
workforce for assertive outreach teams, and that there was an
adverse labour market in mental health at the moment.

He
added that some teams might not be new, but had been “rebadged” as
assertive outreach teams.

Paul
Jewitt, from Luton’s assertive outreach team, questioned whether
teams were needed in every locality, saying they were not practical
in rural communities. “You have to question whether what you need
is a separate team,” he said.