Service Users Interviewing Staff

On Monday the 12th June, this year I was involved in what was for me an exciting development in the history of the SURF group. Gill Taylor, Community Services Manager, Adult Mental Health Services North had invited me to be part of the interview panel for the post of Team manager for the West Durham Community Home Treatment Team.

It was a novel experience being the interviewer rather than the interviewee and being a service user interviewing experienced professionals for a role which is central to the way a lot of service users will experience mental health care.

As this was for me looking at what service users wanted from a manger of services I contacted people at a number of centres to find out what questions needed to be asked.

The day went well, all three candidates were obviously capable people, but Gillian Todd scored the top mark for me and for the interview panel as a whole. Gillian had been acting manager for a few months so a number of service users and carers in Durham may already know her.

It is good to be involved in this sort of positive development and I hope it won’t be for the last time. I have since received a letter of appreciation from Gill Taylor and I want to thank Gill and all those people who helped me with devising the questions I used in the interview.