September 2002
Research and Teaching

Royal College of Psychiatrists' Annual Conference

Nick Bowles, a senior lecturer in the School of Health Studies, put Bradford and interprofessional collaboration on the map when he presented original work, developed in Bradford, to the Royal College of Psychiatrists' (RCP) Annual Conference in Cardiff.

Nick presented to over 100 psychiatrists, on a platform he shared with several eminent consultant psychiatrists, including Dr Stefan Priebe, Dr Leonard Fagin, Dr Stephen Pereira and another leading mental health nurse, Malcolm Rae, of the Department of Health (DoH).

The theme each speaker addressed was how to make meaningful changes in acute psychiatry, an area that has been underdeveloped and under-researched for a number of years and which is the focus of a new DoH strategy, written by a team of clinicians and researchers led by Malcolm Rae.

Nick and Malcolm were the only nurses to present to the conference this year and are two of only a handful of nurses to ever present at this normally uni-professional meeting. Nick outlined the challenges faced by clinicians and the dis-satisfaction of patients and then went on to describe a project management model developed in Bradford on Oakburn Ward, Lynfield Mount Hospital, with Peter Dodds, Ward Manager. This model, called 'refocusing', is part of Nick's current PhD studies and has influenced national policy.

After the conference Nick said: "It is to the credit of the RCP that they are willing to break down professional boundaries and welcome a mental health nurse to address this conference. That the delegates responded as well as they did just underlines the willingness amongst medical staff to collaboratively develop acute care and the need for change."

After the event, Nick was contacted by several delegates and is to address psychiatrists in the Northern and Yorkshire Region in October at the Andrew Sims Centre in Leeds. He is also presenting the refocusing model in Sydney, Australia, in September and co-organising a major national conference on refocusing acute psychiatry in Bolton, in February 2003.

Nick hopes to take up a temporary secondment to the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health in addition to his work at the School of Health Studies in October.

next

top of page