[Opinions of staff in the trial phase of standardized documentation of complementary psychiatric services]

A computerised standardised documentation system for non-hospital based psychiatric and psychosocial care is being developed in Saxony. A range of non-hospital based services was involved in the development process. Staff members were interviewed concerning their experience in using the documentation system. Results showed a critical appraisal by staff members, emphasising particularly (a) the investment of time required, and (b) the perceived usefulness of the documentation which was considered to be limited. Besides staff members feared that data protection issues might be disregarded and that data would be used to cut expenditure. Findings are compared with other studies assessing staff attitudes towards data collection in mental health services. It is concluded that the study adds to the existing evidence of staff scepticism towards computerised standardised documentation systems.