Highlighting the role of Approved Mental Health Professionals (AMHP)
The role of the Approved Mental Health Professional (AMHP) is often misunderstood, even within the mental health services and local authorities they work in.
What are AMHPs?
AMHPs are mental health professionals who have been approved by a local social services authority to carry out certain duties under the Mental Health Act. They are responsible for coordinating your assessment and admission to hospital if you are sectioned.
They may be: social workers; nurses; occupational therapists; psychologists.
In Devon, AMHPs carry out their roles across the Emergency Duty Service, Devon Partnership NHS Trust and the Health and Social Care Community Teams often in very challenging conditions and often at the point of greatest crisis and risk for individuals and their loved ones.
Central to the role of the AMHP is the ability to make 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.
Often faced with the challenges of detaining someone to a place of safety to await assessment and then finding beds with the involvement and resources of other agencies and professionals, the AMHP can often find themselves working way past their finishing time, as they keep the welfare of the individual at the centre of their considerations.
In these three short videos, Megan talks about why she decided to become an AMHP, what you need to do to become an AMHP and what she likes about her AMHP job in mental health.