By Royal College of Psychiatrists (2013)
This report summarises existing evidence of need for liaison psychiatry services in all acute hospitals and then provides evidence for the range of problems addressed, and range of interventions required, to meet core mental health demands in acute hospitals. It also contains case examples that demonstrate the benefit of services; provide detailed considerations for service design, including principle organisational standards, access and response standards, hours of operation, remit and staffing; governance is addressed as a range of clinical and organisational risks and how these can be reduced by liaison psychiatry services are described. Lastly, key considerations required to set local standards for common mental health-related problems that occur in acute hospitals are provided.