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The Impact of a Child Psychiatry Liaison Service on Patterns of Referral

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Anne McFadyen*
Affiliation:
Child and Family Department, Tavistock Clinic, formerly Lecturer & Honorary Senior Registrar, Department of Child Psychiatry, Royal Free Hospital
Gillian Broster
Affiliation:
Child and Family Department, Tavistock Clinic
Dora Black
Affiliation:
Department of Child Psychiatry, Royal Free Hospital, London
*
Child and Family Department, Tavistock Clinic, 120 Belsize Lane, London NW3

Abstract

A retrospective study of referrals to a child psychiatry liaison service was carried out in order to assess the impact of the reorganisation of the service. A total of 55% of referrals were of in-patients on the paediatric ward; other in-patients made up 12.5%. Of all referrals, 67% were from paediatricians. Of the children who had not harmed themselves, most were referred either for help with the management of physical illness or for investigation of a non-organic physical complaint. The main finding was that liaison referrals increased significantly in contrast to both the total number of referrals and the number of cases of deliberate self-harm.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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Footnotes

Based on a paper presented to the Annual Residential Meeting of the Royal College of Psychiatrists' Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Section, Oxford, September, 1987.

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