Development of liaison psychiatry

Abstract

A survey was undertaken to establish the current state of liaison psychiatry in England, Scotland and Wales. Eighty-six consultants were identified who carry out specific work in liaison psychiatry, 43 of these consultants hold either full-time or half-time posts in liaison. Sixteen new posts in liaison (full-time equivalent (FTE) or half-time equivalent (HTE)) have been created in the past two years. Half of these were entirely new posts and half have been created by consultants already in a general psychiatry post renegotiating their contracts. Some specialist registrar schemes have no training slots in liaison psychiatry and others have training slots in liaison psychiatry which are supervised by a trainer who is not in a FTE/HTE liaison post. A national database is required to track expansion in liaison psychiatry and training at specialist registrar level needs to be developed.