Behind the Assessment: Evaluating Core Clinician Skills in Mental State and Risk Evaluation

Abstract

All new clinical staff at South West Healthcare Mental Health Service are required to complete a core competency process within the first six months of their employment. The core competency process involves clinicians individually being assessed on their knowledge of the Mental State Examination (MSE) and Risk Assessment. The MSE and Risk Assessment are core components of mental health practice. They are essential in maintaining patient safety, personalised patient care planning and providing an objective overview of patient wellbeing and behaviour (Assadi, 2020; La Guardia et al., 2019). Being competent in these two assessments is crucial for mental health practitioners across all disciplines to provide safety and adequate care to patients (Garg et al., 2025). For workplaces such as mental health services who employ staff from varied clinical backgrounds, the uptake of implementing compulsory core competency training has become crucial as they are designed to enhance quality of care, improve employee confidence and consistency across the workplace (Barron et al., 2026). The purpose of this study is to evaluate staff perceptions of completing the MSE and Risk Assessment core competency process at South West Healthcare. The project is expected to provide insights into staff perceptions on the relevance of the core competency process, identify the perceived barriers and enablers to completing the core competency process and identify if there are potential benefits to practice of the core competency process. Data will be obtained via surveying eligible clinicians and will occur over July and August 2026.

All new clinical staff at South West Healthcare Mental Health Service are required to complete a core competency process within the first six months of their employment. The core competency process involves clinicians individually being assessed on their knowledge of the Mental State Examination (MSE) and Risk Assessment. The MSE and Risk Assessment are core components of mental health practice. They are essential in maintaining patient safety, personalised patient care planning and providing an objective overview of patient wellbeing and behaviour (Assadi, 2020; La Guardia et al., 2019). Being competent in these two assessments is crucial for mental health practitioners across all disciplines to provide safety and adequate care to patients (Garg et al., 2025). For workplaces such as mental health services who employ staff from varied clinical backgrounds, the uptake of implementing compulsory core competency training has become crucial as they are designed to enhance quality of care, improve employee confidence and consistency across the workplace (Barron et al., 2026). The purpose of this study is to evaluate staff perceptions of completing the MSE and Risk Assessment core competency process at South West Healthcare. The project is expected to provide insights into staff perceptions on the relevance of the core competency process, identify the perceived barriers and enablers to completing the core competency process and identify if there are potential benefits to practice of the core competency process. Data will be obtained via surveying eligible clinicians and will occur over July and August 2026. Preliminary findings will be presented.