Psychological support

William Keenan applauds De Montfort University's decision to withdraw its psychology degrees from British Psychological Society accreditation (Letters, May 12).

He suggests that psychologists, backed by the society, have stifled innovation in the multidisciplinary curricula. I am sure that sociopsychonomics could be a fascinating area of study and lead to interesting graduate destinations. But I have my doubts as to its providing a foundation for a career in clinical psychology.

Keenan should be deploring De Montfort's shocking treatment of Tony Cassidy, who was suspended for looking out for the interests of his students and staff ("Psychology head suspended", May 5).

The BPS simply insists that our laboratory-based empirical discipline has sufficient staffing. I do not know the figures, but given De Montfort's student numbers in psychology and current staffing levels, I would not be surprised if the income from the subject is not at least double the staffing cost.

Tony Ward

Head of psychology

Newman College