ABSTRACT
This chapter examines some key working relationships. At a lecture reporting a study on multidisciplinary working in forensic psychiatry, an academic from a nursing background suggested to the speaker that the problems were all due to the behaviour of doctors and the medical model. For most doctors, supervisory relationships have two main components. One is developmental; the other involves clinical supervision and, increasingly, assessment. If the developmental role is handled skilfully, the supervisory role is usually less burdensome and assessment less threatening. Doctors in management have many responsibilities but those that give most opportunity for creating a positive culture among medical staff are roles in the appraisal and job planning cycle and roles in managing performance. The educational supervisor is responsible for the trainee's educational agreement'. In psychiatry the educational supervisor and the clinical supervisor are usually the same person.
