The Impact of a Liaison Psychiatry Service on Patterns of Referral in a General Hospital

1987 ◽  
Vol 150 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Brown ◽  
A. F. Cooper

A retrospective study of psychiatric referrals from a general hospital inpatient population was carried out for three separate years, 1973, 1976 and 1979. Reorganisation of the liaison service to the responsibility of one consultant team was associated with changes in referral rate and disposal. In particular, there was a significant increase in the referral rate of patients from medical and surgical wards who were not involved in acts of deliberate self-harm.

2000 ◽  
Vol 177 (5) ◽  
pp. 463-466 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keith Hawton ◽  
Louise Harriss ◽  
Louis Appleby ◽  
Edmund Juszczak ◽  
Sue Simkin ◽  
...  

BackgroundThe death of the Princess of Wales in 1997 was followed by widespread public mourning. Such major events may influence suicidal behaviour.AimsTo assess the impact of the Princess's death on suicide and deliberate self-harm (DSH).MethodAnalysis, using Poisson regression, of the number of suicides and open verdicts (suicides’) in England and Wales following the Princess's death compared to the 3 months beforehand, and the equivalent periods in 1992–1996. Similar analysis on DSH presentations to a general hospital.ResultsSuicides increased during the month following the Princess's funeral (+ 17.4%). This was particularly marked in females (+33.7%), especially those aged 25–44 years (+45.1%). Suicides did not fall in the week between the death and the funeral. Presentations for DSH increased significantly during the week following the death (+44.3%), especially in females (+65.1%). Examination of case notes suggested that the influence of the death was largely through amplification of personal losses or exacerbation of existing distress.ConclusionsThe death of a major public figure can influence rates of suicidal behaviour. For DSH, the impact may be immediate, but for suicide it may be delayed.


1991 ◽  
Vol 158 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne McFadyen ◽  
Gillian Broster ◽  
Dora Black

A retrospective study of referrals to a child psychiatry liaison service was carried out in order to assess the impact of the reorganisation of the service. A total of 55% of referrals were of in-patients on the paediatric ward; other in-patients made up 12.5%. Of all referrals, 67% were from paediatricians. Of the children who had not harmed themselves, most were referred either for help with the management of physical illness or for investigation of a non-organic physical complaint. The main finding was that liaison referrals increased significantly in contrast to both the total number of referrals and the number of cases of deliberate self-harm.


1993 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 95-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. O. House ◽  
F. Creed

It is generally agreed that training in liaison psychiatry should be available at SHO/registrar grade, but the College's guidelines are not specific about what it might entail. As a result it is difficult for approval visitors to decide whether a particular post on a rotational training scheme truly provides liaison experience. At times so-called “liaison experience” amounts to no more than participation in a duty-rota for visiting a general hospital to undertake the assessment of cases of deliberate self-harm.


1994 ◽  
Vol 39 (5) ◽  
pp. 141-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
D.J. Hall

Referrals to a liaison psychiatry service, based in a District General Hospital, were studied over a six month period. 190 [89%] of the 214 referrals were for assessment following an episode of deliberate self harm. An excess of these referrals were male [57%] and a large proportion particularly of the males [36%] were diagnosed as having a significant alcohol problem. Many were felt to have no significant psychiatric problem [31%], and a large proportion were discharged with no psychiatric follow-up [28%]. Patterns of diagnosis and disposal differed between the sexes. Referring junior medical staff when asked to give their opinions on the likely management and overall need for psychiatric referral of patients were found to reach reasonable agreement with the assessing psychiatrist, even without prior training, and to be more cautious in their assessment. In many centres the trend is towards selective referral of deliberate self harm patients, and this appears a safe and appropriate development which can be achieved without intensive training or major alterations to working patterns, and which will result in modest but important reductions in inappropriate referrals.


2019 ◽  
Vol 03 (05) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Marc S. Seguban ◽  
Karen G. Amoloza-De Leon ◽  
Marie A. Barrientos-Regala ◽  
Michelle Q. Pipo ◽  
Noemi S. Pestano ◽  
...  

Crisis ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 183-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Crowder ◽  
Rohan Van Der Putt ◽  
Ceri-Anne Ashby ◽  
Andrew Blewett

Abstract: Deliberate self-harm patients who leave the acute hospital environment before the completion of psychiatric assessment have an increased risk of subsequent self-harm. We considered the available data on 50 premature self-discharges identified prospectively in a general hospital with a well-developed integrated-care pathway for self-harm patients, and compared them to a control group. The self-discharge group was found to be more likely to have attempted self-poisoning without alcohol intoxication or other forms or combinations of self-harm, and an absence of identifiable previous self-harm or prior contact with local specialist psychiatric services. The two groups showed no difference in age, sex, or area of residence based on community mental health team sectors. It is proposed that these findings indicate hypotheses for further studies of why people leave the hospital without adequate assessment, and how service design could be improved in order to help them.


2005 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 106-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florian Alexander Ruths ◽  
Robert Ian Tobiansky ◽  
Martin Blanchard

BJPsych Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (S1) ◽  
pp. S46-S47
Author(s):  
Cristina Paton ◽  
James Hills ◽  
Rekha Hegde

AimsThe COVID-19 pandemic has led to sweeping public health restrictions with predictable impact on mental health. In Scotland, lockdown measures during the first wave of the pandemic commenced on 23rd March 2020 and only began to ease after 29th May 2020. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic on the number and type of referrals made to the adult psychiatric liaison nursing service (PLNS) at University Hospital Hairmyres, NHS Lanarkshire.MethodWe collated all of the archived referrals made by our local emergency department to the PLNS at University Hospital Hairmyres for adults (aged 18–65 years) during the period of the first COVID-19 national lockdown (April-July 2020) and the corresponding period one-year prior (April-July 2019) to analyse differences in referral numbers and demographics. Additionally, for referrals made during 2020, we conducted a qualitative review of electronic records to determine the reason for referral, contributory stressors to presentation, and in particular any effect from COVID-19.ResultA total of 549 referrals were made over the study period, with 320 in 2019 and 229 in 2020, a decrease of almost 30%. In 2019, referrals fell each month from April (n = 89) to July (n = 74), while this trend was reversed in 2020, rising from April (n = 45) to near-usual levels by July (n = 68). Compared to baseline, referrals in April 2020 were for a higher proportion of men (62.2%). On qualitative analysis, 26 records (11.3%) could not be found. Otherwise, the most common reasons for referral were suicidal ideation (43.3%) and/or deliberate self-harm (39.9%). Many patients presented with comorbid substance misuse (54.2%) and the majority were not known to community services (64.5%). COVID-19 was implicated in 48 referrals (23.6%), but only 2 of these arose as a direct result of infection.ConclusionWe have observed clear differences in the pattern of referrals made to the adult PLNS during the first COVID-19 national lockdown. COVID-19 was implicated in a minority of referrals, but most were related to secondary effects of lockdown restrictions rather than COVID-19 infection. Possible reasons for fewer referrals during this time could be non-presentation through fears of contracting COVID-19 or altruistic avoidance of putting “pressure on the NHS”. Further studies would be insightful; in particular, equivalent analysis of contacts with community services; and qualitative patient perspectives regarding reasons for non-presentation during this time.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 301-304
Author(s):  
Carly A. Rainey ◽  
Melissa C. Palmer

Abstract The objective of this data analysis was to assess the impact of the addition of a clinical psychiatric pharmacist to a community hospital inpatient psychiatric consult liaison team. Consult liaison psychiatry deals with medically ill patients in general hospital settings and involves the timely recognition and treatment of mental health conditions while coordinating with other medical providers. Each patient consulted to the psychiatry team was reviewed by the clinical pharmacist. Recommendations made by the clinical pharmacist were tracked over a 9-month period. During that time frame, 596 opportunities for intervention were identified. The largest proportion of identified opportunities for intervention were related to admission medication reconciliation, equating to roughly 30%. Optimization of safe medication use had the second largest number of opportunities for intervention at approximately 27%. Additional data, such as time spent on patient care, reason for consultation, and number of accepted recommendations based on medication class/type of intervention, were collected.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document