Guidelines reduce time to consultation for a liaison psychiatry service in an Irish teaching hospital.
BACKGROUND
Timeliness of response from referral to consultation is necessary to provide best standards of care to inpatients in the general hospital setting.


OBJECTIVE
To measure the length of time from referral to consultation in a liaison psychiatry service, and improve service delivery by introducing guidelines for time to consultation.


METHODS
Time to consultation was measured on all patients presenting to a liaison psychiatry consultation service over an initial 6-month period, with subsequent repeat measurement following the introduction of guidelines.


RESULTS
There were significant reductions for time to consultation in the service for the second cycle of the audit (χ(2) = 43.84, P < 0.001), and targets based on international standards were achieved.


CONCLUSIONS
Introduction of guidelines for time to consultation, may improve response times, leading to improved quality of service for inpatient consultation services.
Department of Psychiatry, St. Vincent's University Hospital, Elm Park, Dublin 4, Ireland. johnlyne@mail.com
J
J
Lyne
B
B
O'Donoghue
M
M
Bonnar
D
D
Golden
P
P
Burke
M
M
Hill
A
A
Kinsella
C
C
McInerney
I
I
Callanan
M
M
Ryan
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D054869:Clinical Audit; D005260:Female; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007494:Ireland; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy; D008875:Middle Aged; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D058996:Quality Improvement; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult