Review

Guide to consultation

The first 24 hours
Arnold, Finucane and Rose
Manchester MIND, 1993, £1.50

The first 24 hours is an account of a consultation event organised in Manchester by the community health councils and MIND. The event took the form of a public meeting concentrating on the first 24 hours of admission to psychiatric hospital, both because this is an important period for the user and because it provided a way of focussing wider arguments about mental health services.

The event succeeded in collecting the views of a wide range of users, workers and others. These are expressed in the booklet as long and short-term proposals for service development, and have been sent to local health authorities.

The booklet is not an academic paper; it attempts only to bring the method and results of a consultation to a wider audience. Readers should not, therefore, expect to see analytic argument and referencing.

I would recommend the booklet to anyone involved with or using mental health services, for a number of reasons. First, it provides a clear description of how to organise such an event, and includes copies of advertising media, handouts and details of format.

Second, an account of the problems the organisers encountered and how they might be solved is included, with advice on choosing a chairperson. Third, the booklet includesan un-edited list of the proposals put forward, indicating the kind of material future such events might produce.

The only major criticism is that the authors have respected participants’ contributions, by not editing and re-organising them, and so left them a little confused for a reader who was not involved in the event.

In conclusion, the booklet is full of useful material, and very good value for money.