The Royal College of Psychiatrists has rightly been in the vanguard of promoting safety and security for its trainees. This training pack aims to introduce psychiatric trainees and other health care professionals to the vital elements of safe working practices, and does so with the aid of a set of teaching materials that are first rate in their content and highly professional in their production. The materials consist of a 16-page information booklet for the use of trainees, a 22-minute videotape and accompanying tutor notes to facilitate group learning. Although the materials could be viewed in isolation, their structure is such that they lend themselves best to being used as part of a group teaching exercise, and it is through this that trainees will undoubtedly get the most from the pack.
The information booklet is comprehensive. The video is excellent and benefits from narration by Anthony Clare, communicator par excellence. The tutor notes provide a thoughtful framework for incorporating the materials into a teaching seminar lasting 60-90 minutes. This would be invaluable for anyone wishing to provide structured induction training in personal safety awareness and security measures. Psychiatric tutors wishing to do the job themselves could do much worse than adopt this training pack in their induction arrangements. Combined with appropriate training in breakaway techniques, it would provide the key elements of a safety training programme.
Inevitably, such materials cannot cover all conceivable situations or convey all that might be needed by way of knowledge of risk assessment. When used in group teaching, however, and repeated at appropriate intervals, trainees (and perhaps their senior colleagues) would learn much of value from the pack. If there is one minor quibble, it is that the focus is heavily on psychiatric trainees. Safety concerns all health professionals, of course, and the fundamental principles espoused in this pack could apply to many others in the NHS. One wonders if the College has the energy to re-work the material for a wider audience. If so, it could be a real money-spinner.
This minor point aside, Safety in Psychiatry reflects great credit on the College and those involved in its production. For anyone carrying responsibility for the safety of trainees, there can be only one message: buy, buy, buy!
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