Developing inter-professional training for conflict resolution : a scoping audit and training pilot

Managing violence is an important clinical and managerial responsibility within contemporary mental health practice and there have been considerable developments across the country to pave the way for a more ‘standardised’ approach to conflict resolution. Many trusts employ someone to lead on ‘conflict resolution’ but the precise nature of the lead role and the responsibility attached to it vary greatly between organisations. Similarly, some trusts have sophisticated systems for delivering and monitoring conflict training and updates, whereas others do not. The project described here sought to clarify how training for conflict resolution is organised within a sample of mental health trusts in England. Data was generated by questionnaire and telephone interview with trust leads, and the audit findings were then analysed and used to inform an inter-professional training pilot in one local trust. It is now expected that frontline staff will enter into conflict resolution training as defined by the NHS Security Management Service (2004) and be trained in accordance with a national syllabus of training standards. Audited opinion suggests that the training co-ordinator role is associated with improved governance in relation to conflict-resolution training. Arguably, if national benchmarks and standards are to be met in relation to conflict resolution, trusts need to invest in training infrastructure and at least consider the merits of funding a dedicated co-ordinator role and inter-professional training.