PB CPD Online e-learning site
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
British Journal of Psychiatry Advances in Psychiatric Treatment All RCPsych Journals
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

Correction for O’Connor and Vize, Psychiatr Bull 27 (12) 443-445.
Psychiatric Bulletin (2004) 28: 183. doi: 10.1192/pb.28.5.183-b
© 2004 The Royal College of Psychiatrists
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Submit an eLetter
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Passetti, F.
Right arrow Articles by Dibben, C.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Passetti, F.
Right arrow Articles by Dibben, C.
Psychiatric Bulletin (2004) 28: 183
© 2004 The Royal College of Psychiatrists

Correspondence

The impact of physical illness and the European working time directives

*Filippo Passetti

Psychiatry Senior House Officer, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Mental Health NHS Trust, George Mackenzie House, Box 310, Fulbourn Hospital, Cambridge CB1 5EP

Claire Dibben

Staff Grade Psychiatrist

The article by O'Connor & Vize (Psychiatric Bulletin, December 2003, 27, 443-445) highlights the need, as European working time directives become effective, to optimise the use of medical staff time. In psychiatry, a particular area of difficulty is related to the impact of physical morbidity in old age psychiatry wards on the work-load of psychiatry senior house officers (SHOs), especially out-of-hours.

In an East Anglia NHS hospital, we surveyed the referrals (112) received out-of-hours by the psychiatry SHO over a 30-day period, from two 20-bedded psychiatry wards (one old age, one general adult), accident and emergency or other hospital wards. Over 40% were from the old age psychiatry ward, and of these 30 (65%) were for assessment of physical illness. On seven occasions, patients referred for physical problems were found not to be acutely unwell by the psychiatry SHO, and on five, the SHO was called to administer ‘nursing’ procedures (s/c fluids, heparin, catheter washout) or to organise transfer to medical beds for the administration of blood or IV fluids. Thus, our data suggest that some of these referrals could have been avoided, sparing SHO time for other commitments.

In an attempt to improve the use of SHO time out-of-hours, a voluntary training scheme is being considered at our hospital, which includes the regular exchange of nurses between the old age psychiatry ward and a twinned medical ward. It is hoped that this will result in reciprocal training and ‘loan’ of specialist nursing skills, at no additional cost for staff or the Trust.





This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Submit an eLetter
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Passetti, F.
Right arrow Articles by Dibben, C.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Passetti, F.
Right arrow Articles by Dibben, C.

HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
British Journal of Psychiatry Advances in Psychiatric Treatment All RCPsych Journals