New education and training standards launched for AMHP and BIA courses

Social Work England has launched new standards to improve education and training for mental health and mental capacity professionals in England. The aim is to ensure that everyone who qualifies from approved mental health professional (AMHP) and best interests assessor (BIA) higher education courses can practise safely and effectively.

The new standards have been launched by the social work regulator as part of its overall objective to protect the public. They aim to give the public confidence that all newly qualified AMHPs and BIAs have had comprehensive initial education and training. This applies to social workers, nurses, chartered psychologists and occupational therapists, who can all train as AMHPs and BIAs.

Social Work England will use the standards to approve new courses and reapprove existing courses from summer 2025. It is working closely with education and training providers to introduce the standards and has published detailed guidance.

The standards are the result of 2 public consultations and extensive engagement with the education, mental health, social work and social care sectors, including input from the previous government.

The AMHP standards will replace those previously put in place by the Health and Care Professions Council, against which AMHP courses are currently regulated by Social Work England.* The BIA standards have been newly developed following a pause in national policy plans to replace the role.

Sarah Blackmore, executive director of professional practice and external engagement at Social Work England, said:

“AMHPs and BIAs carry out an invaluable role for people facing mental health challenges at some of the most vulnerable times in their lives and the organisations responsible for their care. The public must feel confident that they are all trained to deliver a consistently high standard of service, decision-making and compassion. This is why future professionals will only be able to practise if they hold a qualification from one of our approved education and training courses.

“I would like to thank everyone who fed into our consultations on these important new standards. We continue to work closely with other health and social care regulators and the different professional sectors to ensure we can best meet the needs of the public. We’re confident that the new standards are strongly aligned with the principles of the Mental Health Act.”

Social Work England has contacted all education and training providers who already deliver AMHP and BIA courses. It will also use the new standards in discussions with new providers planning to start courses in the near future.

Any course providers who are not already in touch with Social Work England can contact the education quality assurance team at education.qa@socialworkengland.org.uk.

Read the standards, guidance and consultation responses

The AMHP and BIA education and training standards and guidance, along with the consultation outcomes, have been published on Social Work England’s website:

AMHP

Education and training standards for AMHP courses

Education and training standards guidance for AMHP course providers

AMHP and AMCP consultation response (originally published in November 2022)

BIA

Education and training standards for BIA courses

Education and training standards guidance for BIA course providers

BIA consultation response

Notes

*We published this consultation response in November 2022, setting out our planned approach to the development of education and training standards for AMHP courses, which we expected to implement in conjunction with the equivalent standards for the planned role of AMCP. The previous government later postponed the introduction of the AMCP role until after the end of the previous Parliament. We therefore paused work on the implementation of the education and training standards for AMHP courses while we prepared new education and training standards for BIA courses during 2023.

These standards and accompanying guidance have had input from subject experts, education providers and the relevant government departments. As part of the refinement and approval process post consultation, and in line with Section 43(2)(b) of the Children and Social Work Act 2017, we have changed a number of standards to remove duplication and align with our education and training standards.

What are the roles of approved mental health professionals and best interests assessors?

AMHPs work on behalf of local councils to carry out a variety of functions under the Mental Health Act 1983 (as amended). One of their key responsibilities is to coordinate care arrangements for people in mental health crisis, identifying the most appropriate way for them to be treated safely and in a way that balances their human rights and care needs. This includes arranging for people to be detained in hospital when that is the most suitable outcome.

BIAs are responsible for undertaking an assessment of the care arrangements for a person who has been deprived of their liberty, (for example, by being cared for in a secure care home or mental health unit), but does not have the mental capacity to challenge them or to indicate their consent. BIAs ensure that depriving somebody of their liberty in this way is lawful, and properly balances the person’s rights and freedoms with their need for care and safety.