Violence risk assessment training for local mental health services

This article describes an initiative undertaken by a clinical team in a medium secure unit to manage their workload by offering training in structured violence risk assessment to local mental health professionals. The HCR‐20 violence risk assessment tool was used in this context. A number of half‐day training sessions were offered to a multidisciplinary audience in three local areas in the West Midlands covered by the team. This initiative was evaluated by feedback from participants, which suggested that the training was well‐received and considered broadly useful.