How effective are current joint working practices between children and family social workers and mental health care coordinators in supporting families in which there is a primary care-giver with a diagnosis of emotionally unstable personality disorder?

Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder (EUPD) is a complex and often stigmatising diagnosis. Although falling under the remit of mental health services, it is not always seen as a mental health need, and research suggests that if parents or carers are not provided with more holistic support, parental mental health will deteriorate with children likely to have poorer outcomes, placing them at an increased risk of harm. This likelihood of harm increases with compounding factors such as substance misuse and domestic abuse. One organisation alone cannot effectively address the complex difficulties that people with this diagnosis may experience, thus inter-agency working is necessary. This article explores the barriers and facilitators to inter-agency working to support parental care-givers with a diagnosis of EUPD between Children’s Social Care and a Community Mental Health Team within the same English area. Five mental health care coordinators and two children and families’ social workers who had experience working with this client group were interviewed. Participants identified the challenges and benefits of working with their partner agency around communication, knowledge, stigmatisation and resources. The research provides suggestions to develop current inter-agency working relationships and to enhance care and support available to people experiencing the diagnosis.