Consumer rights

Our experience of partnership working on a Scottish project on service user and carer involvement in social work education has been a deeply politicising one. First-hand encounters with power enacted at various sites of service user and carer involvement across national, institutional and local university levels have demonstrated to us that 'partnership working that pushes at the orthodox structures of power is difficult' (Barnes et al., 2006, p. 434).

AIM: To evaluate service users' and carers' views on the early intervention in psychosis service in relation to best-practice guidelines. METHOD: Both groups were sent a questionnaire on their experiences of care provided. RESULTS: The majority responded positively to many items, indicating they thought the team met best-practice guidance.