title: The impact of a liaison psychiatry service on patterns of referral in a general hospital.
abstract: 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.
mesh_terms: D006769:Hospitals, General; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010360:Patient Transfer; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D012189:Retrospective Studies