title: Opening the 'black box': liaison psychiatry services and what they actually do.
abstract: Aims and method To develop a simple, pragmatic typology to characterise the nature of liaison interventions delivered by a liaison service in a National Health Service setting. We carried out a retrospective electronic case-note review of referrals to a ward-based liaison psychiatry service. Results Three hundred and forty-four patients were referred to the service over a 12-month period. Ten different types of liaison interventions were identified, with the most common interventions being diagnosis (112 patients, 32.6%), medication management (57 patients, 16.6%), risk assessment and treatment (56 patients, 16.3% each). Mental Health Act work accounted for the greatest number of contacts per patient (median 7). Clinical implications There are inherent limitations in any single-site observational study, as site-specific results cannot be generalised to other liaison services. The intervention categories we developed, however, are easy to use and will provide a way of comparing and benchmarking the range of interventions delivered by different liaison psychiatry services.
authors: University of Manchester; Manchester Mental Health and Social Care NHS Trust.
authors: Elspeth
authors: E
authors: Guthrie
authors: Manchester Mental Health and Social Care NHS Trust.
authors: Aaron
authors: A
authors: McMeekin
authors: Manchester Mental Health and Social Care NHS Trust.
authors: Rachel
authors: R
authors: Thomasson
authors: Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust.
authors: Sylvia
authors: S
authors: Khan
authors: Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust.
authors: Sally
authors: S
authors: Makin
authors: Greater Manchester West Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust.
authors: Ben
authors: B
authors: Shaw
authors: Manchester Mental Health and Social Care NHS Trust.
authors: Damien
authors: D
authors: Longson