psy 03_09 p226_229 society:Layout 1
16/2/09
15:30
Page 228
society
West Midlands award Dr Joe Kiff, who works for Dudley Primary Care Trust, has been named as the West Midlands Branch ‘Psychologist of the Year’. Dr Kiff has been recognised following his work on the Psychology Wiki (see
http://psychology.wikia.com/wi ki/Main_Page). The site has been running for almost three years, and now carries more than 25,000 articles. Last year the site had over 1 million unique visitors, from almost every country in the world.
CONSULTATIONS ON PUBLIC POLICY Responses were submitted to seven consultations in January, as follows:
I I I I I I I
Alcohol Dependence: Scope consultation (National Institute for Health & Clinical Excellence) Improving the Value of Drug Treatment Systems: Draft assumptions (National Treatment Agency for Substance Abuse) Indicators of a School’s Contribution to Well-being (Office for Standards in Education [Ofsted] and the Department for Children, Schools & Families [DCSF]) Policy and Practice for Adults with a Learning Disability: Proposed action plan (Welsh Assembly Government) Reducing Reoffending in London1(Ministry of Justice) – see the News section (p.195) for details Safeguarding Adults: A consultation on the review of the ‘No Secrets’ guidance (Department of Health, Home Office and Ministry of Justice) ‘Talk to Me’ – A National Action Plan to Reduce Suicide and Self Harm in Wales 2008–2013 (Welsh Assembly Government)
While welcoming the overall intention of Ofsted and the DCSF in their proposals regarding the indicators of schools’ contributions to wellbeing, members were concerned that the proposed methods of measurement would not generate robust, consistent or meaningful data able to demonstrate whether or not a school is successful in improving well-being but would show only whether it is promoting it at all. The Welsh Assembly Government’s proposals for an action plan for adults with a learning disability identified the need for: clear outcome measures and quality indicators in service commissioning; service-user involvement in commissioning; and the need for evidence-based services. However, members expressed grave concerns that existing research on the cost-effectiveness of services might be misinterpreted as sanctioning the cutting of services without taking into account the needs of the individual. It was also felt that an opportunity had been missed to highlight the mental health needs of people with learning disabilities. In addition to the above responses, comments were also sent to the Royal Society for consideration in their response to the International Council for Science’s consultation on its strategic plan for 2012 to 2017. The preparation and submission of the Society’s responses to consultations on public policy is coordinated by the Policy Support Unit (PSU). All members are eligible to contribute to responses and all interest is warmly welcomed. Please contact the PSU for further information (psu@bps.org.uk; 0116 252 9926/9577). Details of active and completed consultations are available at: www.bps.org.uk/consult.
228
‘This new knowledge structure now holds out the possibility of constructing a comprehensive narrative account of our science describing the concepts we use, what we know, what the evidence is, and what theories we have to explain our findings,’ Kiff said. ‘Using the collaborative editing model we can organise ourselves, if we choose, to provide updateable reviews of all areas of psychology in which there is a substantive literature, including all the main references.’ Expansion is very much on Kiff’s mind. ‘Now we have the technology we need the political will to organise a system for inviting contributions and managing the project to bring it to fruition. My own view is that this is best achieved via the
divisional structure and special interest groups of the BPS. If they can coordinate activity in their own areas of expertise and eventually facilitate an international collaboration of experts, we can make this a solid exercise in professional communication.’ According to Kiff, ‘this is just the beginning. The site is only 1 per cent of what it can be. We have laid the track of what could become a major road network of professional information. There will be accidents and disagreements in the running of the system, and it will need the systematic support of an organisation to maintain and police it. But once created I believe we will not be able to contemplate doing without the unimagined benefits it will bring to the discipline.’
Be aware We have had information of a fraudulent leaflet being posted to Chartered Psychologists, possibly via the addresses published on our online Directory. Med1web is a division of Novachannel AG and is currently under criminal investigation in Switzerland. If you receive any correspondence from this company, please disregard it and do not respond.
Online shop During 2009 we’re introducing the BPS Shop to make life a bit easier for our members. A single destination on our website to book conferences and events, and to download current Society publications. Look out for more details in next month’s Psychologist.
Society vacancies Board of Assessors in Clinical Neuropsychology
Ordinary Member Practitioner Full Member (for at least five years) of the Division of Neuropsychology. All travel and subsistence expenses met. Contact Bethan Carley bethan.carley@bps.org.uk, 0116 252 9933. Closing date 31 March 2009
vol 22 no 3
march 2009