About us:
The Royal College of Psychiatrists is the professional and
educational body for psychiatrists in the United Kingdom and the
Republic of Ireland. We promote mental health by:
- Setting standards and promoting excellence in mental health
care
- Improving understanding through research and education
- Leading, representing, training and supporting
psychiatrists
- Working with patients, carers and their organisations
Public education is one of the central tasks of the College. We
believe that everyone needs knowledge to make informed decisions
about their health.
Don't your leaflets just give a doctor's view of
things?
We are doctors, but we do try to take a broader view.
How are the leaflets written?
They are written by psychiatrists who are members of the College's
Public Education Committee. They collaborate with an expert (or
experts) in the field and with the College Special Committee of
Patients and Carers.
Do they meet internet health information
standards?
They are checked to make sure they meet:
- DISCERN criteria (www.discern.org.uk/)
In our opinion, these are among the best available guidelines for
high quality health information.
Are they up to date?
We review them every 2 to 3 years. We update the web versions more
regularly to reflect any important changes in knowledge.
What's the point of the feedback section?
We use the feedback to help us update and re-edit the
leaflets.
We also appreciate the many helpful comments we
receive
Who pays for all this?
- The editors are not paid. They are allowed to do this sort of
work for a period each week by their employers - universities or
health trusts.
- We do not accept pharmaceutical sponsorship for the printing of
our leaflets
- We accept some funding from charitable trusts and
foundations.
- The College allocates a budget each year to cover some of the
printing, designing and marketing costs.
- Income is generated by the bulk sale of the paper versions
which goes back into the production of new materials
You don't have what I'm looking for
At the end of each leaflet we provide references so you can check
out our information or find more detailed information. If you have
any suggestions for leaflets that you would like us to develop,
please e-mail us at
dhart@rcpsych.ac.uk