title: General practitioner referrals to an ambulatory psychiatric service. The effects of establishing an ease of access service.
abstract: The effects of establishing an ease of access 'walk-in' service on General Practitioner referrals to the ambulatory services of a catchment area psychiatric service are outlined. The characteristics of the patients referred are described. GPs made immediate and sustained use of the walk-in service and its creation expanded use of the ambulatory services by an overall 50%. Individual GPs were found to use the ambulatory services disproportionately and to discriminate between their use of the walk-in service and the coexisting traditionally run outpatient clinic. The walk-in service also allowed patients to refer themselves; a policy which did not result in a flood of inappropriate referrals but enabled patients, already familiar with the service, to re-establish contact in times of distress. The findings are discussed in terms of the current growth of Community Mental Health Centres in the United Kingdom and their implications for GP/Psychiatric Service liaison.
authors.affiliation: National Unit for Psychiatric Research and Development, Lewisham Hospital, London.
authors.forename: A P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Boardman
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bouras
authors.forename: T K
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Craig
mesh_terms: D003155:Community Mental Health Centers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004739:England; D005194:Family Practice / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000628:therapy*; D011613:Psychotherapy; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data