Information for service users
Welcome to plan-info. Here you will find useful
information and resources on a range of topics that may
be relevant if you or someone you know have needed mental
health support when you were in a general hospital, including:
Would you like to give us your
feedback on your experience of psychiatric liaison services?
If you have recently visited a psychiatric liaison team that is
participating in our project, you should have been given the option
of completing a brief paper questionnaire about your
experiences. The questionnaire can also be completed online,
anonymously,
here:
If you would like to give us your feedback, please take 5
minutes to complete this anonymous questionnaire. Results
will be sent direct to the PLAN central team, not the hospital, and
will not affect the care you receive.
Helplines and useful
organisations
Here you can find lists of organisations, including those from
the voluntary sector, that support people with mental and/or
physical health problems.
What does a psychiatric
liaison team do?
If you have come into contact with liaison services, you may be
unsure what you can expect from them. It is true that liaison
teams differ from one hospital to another, and some hospitals may
not even have a liaison service at all. Some may work with
children, some work only with working age adults and others
may work with older people.
What is a psychiatric liaison team?
A psychiatric liaison team works in general hospitals, for
example in accident & emergency or in-patient
wards. They can provide psychiatric assessment and treatment
to those patients who may be experiencing distress whilst in
hospital and provide a valuable interface between mental and
physical health.
There is a lot of evidence that medical patients have a high
rate of psychiatric disorder, but can respond positively to
psychological or drug treatments. Psychiatric liaison teams
are very helpful in detecting these psychiatric disorders, such as
depression or anxiety, and improving patient outcomes.
Who do they work with?
The liaison team can work with any patient in
the hospital who requires psychological help to manage their
condition, including:
- Older people who suffer from dementia or delirium
- Individuals who have self-harmed and are being seen in the
Emergency Department.
- People who have an existing mental health problem and are
currently in hospital with a physical illness.
- Those who have been diagnosed with a physical illness and
need some emotional support to adjust to this.
What does the liaison mental health team
do?
Liaison teams can vary in what services they are commissioned to
provide, meaning that not all will provide interventions (for
example, problem solving therapy or
cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for conditions such as
anxiety or depression). If the team cannot provide these
interventions, they will refer the patient to the relevant
services.
In general liaison psychiatry teams will:
What are my rights when seeing a liaison
team?
When seeing a liaison professional for an
assessment you have the right to:
- Be seen in a private area
- Choose whether or not a relative, friend or advocate will
accompany you – you should be able to include them in your
assessment if you wish, or exclude them (i.e. not have them there)
– whichever you prefer.
- Be involved in decisions about your problems and any treatment
being offered
- Be kept informed of your care plan.
It is good practice for liaison teams to
provide you with further information, should you require it, such
as how to access support in an emergency or ‘out of hours’ (i.e
evenings and weekends).
What is the Psychiatric Liaison Accreditation
Network?
Approximately 30 teams around the UK have signed up to our
Psychiatric Liaison Accreditation Network
(PLAN) to improve the quality of the services they
provide. You can see the quality standards they are expected
to meet in order to be accredited as a good service here:
Keeping healthy
We all know the importance of keeping fit and looking after
ourselves, but in reality this can be easier said than done.
The Royal College of Psychiatrists has produced several leaflets on
this area, which may give you some helpful tips on the best
ways you can achieve this.
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