Putting the Missing Rungs into the Vocational ‘Ladder’ Available to Purchase

The Avon & Western Wiltshire NHS Trust's Work Development Programme in Bristol is a Beacon award winner. This Department of Health award has been made for achievements in establishing a comprehensive vocational advice and support service for people with mental health difficulties ‐ starting from inside specialist mental health services. The funding attached is to enable the model and good practice to be shared more widely in the NHS. Central to the service model are close partnerships with occupational therapy as well as the employment service, further education and service providers from the voluntary sector. Roger Butterworth (who started it) and Jo Dean describe how the service was developed.