A collaborative evaluation of remote consultations in mental health services was undertaken by mental health service providers, experts by experience, academic institutions and a Health Innovation Network in south London, UK. ‘Learning healthcare systems’ thinking was applied. Workstream 1 reviewed international published evidence; workstream 2 synthesised findings from three health provider surveys of the perceptions and experiences of staff, patients and carers; and workstream 3 comprised an electronic survey on local projects.

Remote consultations can be acceptable to patients and staff. They improve access for some while restricting access for others, with digital exclusion being a key concern. Providing tailored choice is key.

The collaboration generated learning to inform choices by healthcare providers to embed or adapt remote delivery. A key output was freely downloadable survey questions for assessing the quantity and quality of appointments undertaken by phone or video or face to face.

Higher specialist trainees (HSTs) in psychiatry in Ireland were recruited to complete a 21-item online questionnaire anonymously. Questions were designed to establish the research experience of HSTs in various years of training, identify perceived barriers to participation and generate potential strategies to overcome these barriers.

Of 165 HSTs surveyed, 50 (30%) responded. Most respondents (58%) were in the second or third year of HST. Most (72%) were training in general adult psychiatry. Themes that emerged from analysis of the qualitative data were ‘collaborative research culture’, ‘guidance’, ‘choice’ and ‘access to resources’. Participants felt they needed more structured guidance and regular supervision, and expressed a desire for more networking and collaboration.

The need for a supportive, collaborative research culture within psychiatry was predominant among responses. Structured research programmes and access to resources may facilitate a more positive research culture and should be considered as part of the training curriculum.

We aimed to systematically review primary studies exploring workplace bullying of psychiatric trainees, including rates, forms of bullying, perpetrators and help-seeking. We searched Ovid MEDLINE, PubMed, CINAHL, PsycINFO and Embase using PRISMA guidelines. The inclusion criterion was primary research papers surveying or interviewing psychiatry trainees with respect to perceived workplace bullying by staff members. Exclusion criteria were secondary research papers and papers whose only focus was bullying by patients or carers.

Substantial levels of bullying were reported in all five included studies. Perpetrators were often reported to be consultants, managers or peers. Most trainees did not obtain help for bullying and harassment. All of the studies had methodological limitations.

Concerning levels of workplace bullying have been reported by psychiatric trainees in the UK and abroad. Further methodologically robust studies are required to evaluate the current levels and nature of this bullying, and strategies to prevent and manage it.

We explored the prevalence of autism and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in first-episode psychosis. Through service evaluation involving 509 individuals, detailed analyses were conducted on neurodevelopmental traits and patterns of service utilisation.

Prevalence of neurodivergence in first-episode psychosis was 37.7%. Neurodivergent individuals used urgent mental health services more frequently (Mann–Whitney U = 25925, Z = −2.832, P = 0.005) and had longer hospital stays (Mann–Whitney U = 22816, Z = −4.886, P ≤ 0.001) than non-neurodivergent people. Neurodivergent people spend more than twice as long in mental health hospitals at a time than the non-neurodivergent people (Mann–Whitney U = 22 909.5, Z = −4.826, P ≤ 0.001). Mediation analysis underscored indirect impact of neurodivergence on hospital stay durations through age at onset of psychosis and use of emergency services.

Prevalence of neurodevelopmental conditions in first-episode psychosis is underestimated. Neurodivergent individuals show increased utilisation of mental health services and experience psychosis earlier. Early assessment is crucial for optimising psychosis management and improving mental health outcomes.

Maternity outcomes for women from certain ethnic groups are notably poor, partly owing to their not receiving treatment from services.

To explore barriers to access among Black and south Asian women with perinatal mental health problems who did not access perinatal mental health services and suggestions for improvements, and to map findings on to the perinatal care pathway.

Semi-structured interviews were conducted in 2020 and 2021 in the UK. Data were analysed using the framework method.

Twenty-three women were interviewed, and various barriers were identified, including limited awareness of services, fear of child removal, stigma and unresponsiveness of perinatal mental health services. Whereas most barriers were related to access, fear of child removal, remote appointments and mask-wearing during COVID-19 affected the whole pathway. Recommendations include service promotion, screening and enhanced cultural understanding.

Women in this study, an underrepresented population in published literature, face societal, cultural, organisational and individual barriers that affect different aspects of the perinatal pathway.

Questions often follow the suicide of someone who presented to general adult psychiatry (GAP) when expressing suicidal thoughts: ‘Why were they not admitted, or managed differently, when they said they were suicidal?’ Answering these questions requires knowledge of the prevalence of suicidal ideation in patients presenting to GAP. Therefore, we determined the general clinical characteristics, including suicidal ideation, of a large sample of patients presenting to a GAP emergency assessment service or referred as non-emergencies to a GAP service.

Suicidal ideation was very common, being present in 76.4% of emergency presentations and 33.4% of non-emergency referrals. It was very weakly associated with suicide, varied between different diagnostic categories, and previous assessment by GAP did not appear to affect it. The suicide rate during the contingent episode of care was estimated as 66 per 100 000 episodes.

This, and other evidence, shows that suicide cannot be predicted with an accuracy that is useful for clinical decision-making. This is not widely appreciated but has serious consequences for patients and healthcare resources.

Functional neurological disorder (FND) most often presents in women of childbearing age, but little is known about its course and outcomes during pregnancy, labour and postpartum (the perinatal period). We searched MEDLINE, PsycInfo and Embase combining search terms for FND and the perinatal period. We extracted data on patient demographics, subtype of FND, timing of symptom onset, comorbidities, medications, type of delivery, investigations, treatment, pregnancy outcomes and FND symptoms at follow-up.

We included 36 studies (34 case reports and 2 case series) describing 43 patients. Six subtypes of FND were identified: functional (dissociative) seizures, motor weakness, movement disorder, dissociative amnesia, speech disorders and visual symptoms. New onset of perinatal FND was more common in the third trimester and onwards. Some women with functional seizures were exposed to unnecessary anti-seizure prescriptions and intensive care admissions.

Prospective studies are urgently needed to explore how FND interacts with women's health in the perinatal period.

To explore the duration of support, reach, effectiveness and equity in access to and outcome of individual placement and support (IPS) in routine clinical practice. A retrospective analysis of routine cross-sectional administrative data was performed for people using the IPS service (N = 539).

A total of 46.2% gained or retained employment, or were supported in education. The median time to gaining employment was 132 days (4.3 months). Further, 84.7% did not require time-unlimited in-work support, and received in-work support for a median of 146 days (4.8 months). There was a significant overrepresentation of people from Black and minority ethnic communities accessing IPS, but no significant differences in outcomes by diagnosis, ethnicity, age or gender.

Most people using IPS services do not appear to need time-unlimited in-work support. Community teams with integrated IPS employment specialists can be optimistic when addressing people's recovery goals of gaining and retaining employment.

Accumulating evidence suggests that early life trauma (ELT) initiates and perpetuates a cycle of depression, leading to challenges in management and achieving remission. This scoping review aimed to examine the intricate relationship between ELT and difficult-to-treat depression (DTD). An extensive literature search from 1 January 2013 to 21 October 2023 was conducted using the Cochrane Library, PubMed, Scopus, PsycINFO and OpenGrey.

Our review identified scientific literature illustrating the multifaceted link between ELT and DTD, highlighting the dual impact of ELT on therapeutic resistance and clinical complexity.

This complexity hampers management of patients with DTD, who are characterised by limited pharmacological responsiveness and heightened relapse risk. While exploring the ELT–DTD nexus, the review revealed a paucity of literature on the impact of ELT within DTD. Findings underscore the profound link between ELT and DTD, which is essential for comprehensive understanding and effective management. Tailoring treatments to address ELT could enhance therapeutic outcomes for patients with DTD. Future studies should use larger samples and well-defined diagnostic criteria and explore varied therapeutic approaches.

This survey of 66 specialist mental health services aimed to provide an up-to-date description of pathways of care and interventions available to children with an intellectual disability referred for behaviours that challenge or with suspected mental health problems.

Overall, 24% of services made contact with a family at referral stage, whereas 29% contacted families at least once during the waiting list phase. Only two in ten services offered any therapeutic input during the referral or waiting list stages. During the active caseload phase, services offered mostly psychoeducation (52–59%), followed by applied behaviour analytic approaches for behaviours that challenge (52%) and cognitive–behavioural therapy (41%). Thirty-six per cent of services had not offered any packaged or named intervention in the past 12 months.

With increasing waiting times for specialist mental health support, services need to consider increasing the amount of contact and therapeutic input on offer throughout all stages of a child's journey with the service.