Meet our AMHPs

As part of Approved Mental Health Professional (AMHP) Day 2022, we would like to introduce you to some of the AMHPs that work across our diverse teams.

 

Kirsten, Lead AMHP and Social Worker

I have been an AMHP since 2008 and it’s a role I love. It’s a privilege to be an AMHP, every day is different and whilst it’s a great responsibility to make some big and difficult decisions, these decisions can make a significant difference to the lives of people and their families at what can be an incredibly difficult time.

This is the first year I have become aware of National AMHP Day, which was launched in 2017 to raise the profile of AMHPs. I had to take this opportunity to promote this vital and valuable role, particularly when things have been tough for all of those working within health and social care.

AMHPs have a challenging and at times stressful role, being responsible for things like applications for hospital detentions. AMHPs work independently and are autonomous in their assessment and decision making, which means that our role can sometimes be misunderstood. This is why I think the national date to raise awareness is particularly important.

I also think its important to use these dates to break down stigma. One misconception when considering the work AMHPs do, is that all AMHP activity is related to Mental Health Act assessments. In reality, it’s a diverse role that encompasses many things. AMHPs have other duties such as in relation to Community Treatment Orders, Guardianship, Court processes and Warrants under the Mental Health Act.

Strengths-based, relationship-based practice and the social model of mental health is at the heart of AMHP work. Mental Health Act assessments can be an opportunity to take stock of a situation, to offer support and care and don’t automatically lead to an admission and detention. Personally, I believe t’s important that we see these assessments as opportunities, and a way we can take on positive risk taking, giving people choice and control over their lives.

AMHPs provide a 24/7 response across different systems, agencies and professional groups. They support some of the most vulnerable people in our communities, working to uphold and protect their rights and to work in the least restrictive way. AMHP work is both highly skilled and advanced mental health work and is there to act as a counterbalance to a medical model. Indeed, this is the reason why the AMHP (ASW) role was developed. I like to think of AMHPs as the guardians of social justice (just without capes and they usually don’t wear the pants over their trousers, well, most of them don’t anyway).

A successful AMHP service ensures AMHPs have the time they need to fully explore and understand a person’s situation, making sound legal decisions around the use of compulsory powers in a way that is both lawful and promotes the autonomy of the individual, while safeguarding the person, the family and the wider public. This involves having a lot of conversations. AMHPs must work in partnership with people and their communities, and we work across whole systems.

Having people better understand the scope of this role, investing in the development of AMHP services and, as a result, valuing the work AMHPs do, will simply lead to high quality outcomes for people. It is an incredibly rewarding job and I am determined to be part of shaping the future of AMHP work. I strongly believe a successful AMHP service is one that is delivered in partnership and, most importantly in my case, with the people of Hull.

 

Kathy, Nurse AMHP

I am a Mental Health Nurse by background and 4 years ago I completed my Approved Mental Health Professional training to become a Nurse AMHP. I wanted to do this as I believed I could use the skills and experience I have gained as a Nurse and transfer these to the AMHP role.

At the time, I remember listening to a Social Work AMHP colleague talking to a Nearest Relative and taking the time to explain what this meant to them. This included outlining what a Mental Health Act assessment is and the potential outcomes. I wanted to be able to do this, to support people with their loved ones and help them understand what was going on and how services could help.

I now work in the Crisis team, which initially was a challenging experience, as I had entered a domain of Practice that was usually led by Social Workers. Over time I overcame challenges such as reassuring colleagues that I do not have a reliance of the medical model and that I understand the importance of how all aspects of a person’s life can and does impact on their mental health. I believe through my practice, my values and ethics, I am accepted in the AMHP team and that my knowledge as a Nurse is valued.

I have been able to utilise my skills around communication and this role involves communicating with numerous professionals, families, carers and with individuals who are in crisis and struggle to represent themselves at times. I enjoy being able to support them feeling empowered and in control of what their care looks like and promoting options other than admission. At times admission is needed and, often when this occurs, the individual may be too unwell to understand what is happening to them. This is when it’s important to ensure where possible family are involved, contact with the Nearest Relative is made and if I haven’t been able to achieve this, then it is important to inform the ward so that the appropriate safeguards can be implemented for the individual. I continue to support the individual until admission is achieved and often draw on all my skills so that the distressed person can continue to be supported.

As with any role, there are challenges. AMHPs do not have magic wands. We are not able to assess and admit people in a matter of hours, and the role involves huge responsibility until the individual is safely admitted. But despite these challenges and if at any time I start to think ‘is this worth it’, I will encounter an assessment or a family member that thanks me for making a difference, or I walk away from an assessment knowing that, because of my involvement, a person is now safe and receiving the care and treatment that they need.

I will fight to protect a person’s rights and ensure they receive the care that they need, and this is why I practice as an AMHP.

 

Rachael, Social Worker

I have been an AMHP since 2018. In this time, services have changed, other AMHPs have come and gone, Covid-19 has changed many of our ways of working, but throughout it all, the referrals continue to come.

As well as ensuring assessments are organised, Doctors are sought and booked, applications are made, transport organised and politics argued, and one of the many challenging roles of an AMHP is to form a bridge between Health and Social Care.

AMHPs are often faced with conducting assessments with medical colleagues, which can at times make challenging opinions uncomfortable, and cause conflict in working environments. However, this is an important element of the role as it encourages health professionals to come together to achieve the best outcomes. AMHPs are to be the glue to make sure interagency partnership working is always implemented during the process of a Mental Health Act assessment.

As AMHPs, we are often faced with navigating the complex systems, where resource allocation and competing priorities can work against us. A good example of this is around access to mental health beds. It is the responsibility of health to arrange and allocate mental health beds (this is often misunderstood, AMHP’s don’t and can’t arrange beds!) and therefore, getting the best outcome for a person based on their needs can be challenging.

One of the core values being an AMHP is to put the person at the centre of all decision making and ensure their choice and opinions are heard. This should be second nature to the AMHPs as this is in line with professional values of the AMHP role. We fight daily to ensure professional standards and values are upheld and remember ‘the hat’ we are wearing when undertaking the AMHP role. As AMHPs, we must remember to fight for the person’s rights and wishes and ensure when taking the difficult decision to deprive someone of their liberty we can ensure where at all possible their wishes are at the forefront of the planning of care.

Being an AMHP is a varied, demanding, and emotional career, but offers some of the most privileged moments and rewarding outcomes you can experience. My favourite thing about being an AMHP is the vast amount of knowledge and skills we have across such an array of fields. We cover a whole life span of individuals we support, and we see such a varied number of needs. Ultimately, I love helping others to help themselves and not feeling in a position of doing things for other people. We share skills and knowledge to empower others to continue their own journey with the appropriate support to promote independence and self-determination.

 

Claire, Nurse AMHP

Often, Mental Health Nurses are viewed as practitioners who follow the medical model following in the steps of Psychiatrists. Having previously worked for many years on the wards, I can vouch that we very much focus on the recovery model and the social perspective relating to a patients care, which is imperative to their recovery.

Having the knowledge of mental disorder, medication and their side effects and understanding the nature of wards has helped me in my role as an AMHP, to advocate for a patient when considering or assessing under the Mental Health Act.

My nursing background has helped me to challenge other professionals when they may be putting views across which often miss the wider social aspects and don’t always consider the detrimental effects of medication or being in what could be considered an artificial environment on the wards.

Being a AMHP has many of its own challenges. During a Mental Health Act assessment, I can bring issues into discussion and challenge medical professionals’ views, empowering a patient to have their own wishes expressed and to ensure everything we put in place is purposeful and meaningful.

It has been refreshing having worked with Psychiatrists who acknowledge the wider picture; however, I would like to see this improve along with improving resilience to life stressors. We need to focus on acknowledging that it is ok to experience unpleasant feelings and that alternative approaches are more meaningful than rubber stamping problems with medications.

Having to co-ordinate referrals made to the AMHP service whilst juggling time frames and prioritising needs are all in the day of AMHP life, but ensuring patients have a voice and all factors are considered to help a patient receive the care that’s most empowering to them, well, what’s not to love about that?

For those of you who would like to know more about AMHP’s, this e-learning programme is a great place to find out more. Approved Mental Health Professional - elearning for healthcare (e-lfh.org.uk).