Background: There are significant pressures and quality issues in acute adult mental health services in the UK.
Aims: To understand the contribution of psychologists in acute services to patient care and service quality.
Methods: Forty-nine psychologists with experience in Adult Mental Health Inpatient Services, Crisis Resolution Home Treatment Teams and Liaison Mental Health Services responded to a questionnaire-based survey.
Results: The first theme "Direct interventions" identified the value of psychological assessment, formulation and adapted brief interventions. The second theme "Indirect Interventions", viewed psychology as an integral part of the Multi-Disciplinary Team, enabling psychologically informed care, increasing psychological skills in the workforce and supporting staff wellbeing. The third theme outlined a lack of psychological resources in services and limited understanding about their potential benefits. The potential of increased resources to promote psychologically informed cultures, staff wellbeing, and improve patient choice through greater access to psychological treatments was noted.
Conclusions: This is the largest UK study of psychologists within acute mental health care, identifying benefits for patients and services. Further research is needed on the impact of psychological interventions on patient outcomes and workforce wellbeing.
Keywords: Psychology; adult mental health; crisis; inpatient; liaison.