Approved Mental Health Professionals, Best Interests Assessors and People with Lived Experience: An Exploration of Professional Identities and Practice

Hemmington, Jill; Graham, Matthew; Marshall, Alan; Brammer, Andy; Stone, Kevin and Vicary, Sarah (2021). Approved Mental Health Professionals, Best Interests Assessors and People with Lived Experience: An Exploration of Professional Identities and Practice. Social Work England.

Abstract

Social Work England was established under The Children and Social Work Act 2017. It is the specialist regulator for social workers in England. Social Work England officially took over from the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) in December 2019. It is a non-departmental public body, operating at arm’s length from the government. Social Work England has become the professional regulator for Approved Mental Health Professionals (AMHPs) and Best Interests Assessors (BIAs). In 2020 -21, Social Work England has been developing the regulatory framework to support AMHPs and the new specialism of Approved Mental Capacity Professional (AMCP), which will succeed BIAs from April 2022. This includes the development of education & training approval standards as well as specialist standards for AMHP and AMCP practice. Social Work England commissioned this piece of work as part of a commitment to learning about the professionals in these specialisms and people’s experiences of them. The objective of this research was to undertake a study into the experiences of AMHPs and BIAs and those who have experience of their interventions. Existing research is generally inconclusive and little is known about this area.

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