DAWN FRESHWATER is Professor of Mental Health and Primary Care at the Institute of Health and Community Studies at Bournemouth University, and is leading the development of an Academic Research Centre in Practice with North and South West Dorset NHS Trusts. - VERONICA BISHOP is Editor of Nursing Times Research, and is a board member of the Hong Kong nurses' journal. She recently retired as Professor of Nursing at De Montfort University, but maintains her links with the NHS through consultancy work. -