The Role of Care Coordinators Versus Doctors in the Management of Chronic Mental Illness in the Community.

Doctors play an important role in a multidisciplinary team, however therapeutic relationships are not limited to between a doctor and a patient. In Community Mental Health Teams, patients are allocated a care coordinator - usually a community psychiatric nurse or a social worker - and they usually become the healthcare provider the patient is most regularly in contact with. Similarly, a practice nurse in General Practice may be the healthcare professional a patient is most familiar with. In these instances, the patient-provider relationship may be stronger than the doctor-patient relationship. Non-doctor and patient relationships play an increasingly important role in improving the patient experience and contributing to information gathering, shared-decision making, and establishment and adherence to treatment plans. Care coordinators may be in a more superior position than doctors to accurately recognise the ongoing and changing needs of a person with mental illness. Patients value continuity of care, compassion, and mutual trust and respect: these qualities can potentially all be provided by any trained healthcare professional. In this paper, we will review the literature on the emerging role of the care coordinator and other healthcare professionals in the management of chronic mental illness in the community.