Realising Potential: An Action Plan for Allied Health Professionals in Mental Health

Section 4 Delivering the action plan

The three-year action plan needs to be implemented locally but supported nationally. The AHP Adviser in the Mental Health Division of the Scottish Government Health Directorates will provide national support for the implementation of the action plan, and an Implementation Board involving all key stakeholders and an AHP mental health clinical leaders group will be set up. Three regional events will be held in autumn 2010 to enable local services to engage with the action plan.

But fundamentally, it is AHPs in NHS boards who will need to drive implementation of the action plan. To facilitate this, AHP mental health professional forums should continue to be developed and strengthened in each NHS board, in accordance with NHS board structures. Specific consideration will be given to how this can be achieved in remote and rural boards. The forums need to review their membership to ensure full engagement with all key stakeholders, including service users, carers and colleagues in social, acute and CHP services, and that they are working in collaboration with local nursing implementation forums for the report of the national review of mental health nursing in Scotland, Rights, relationships and recovery (27).

The action plan recommendations will be an integral aspect of implementation review visits to NHS boards by the Scottish Government Mental Health Division, with a particular focus on early access, self-management, clinical leadership and measuring outcomes to deliver effective services.