To explore the experiences and attitudes of mental health professionals working in acute elderly care to a new clinical dashboard system. Metrics were identified from the Royal College of Psychiatrists' Accreditation for Inpatient Mental Health Services – Older People (AIMS-OP); these were tracked from baseline to 6 months. A questionnaire was developed and distributed across the three clinical areas involved in the clinical dashboard mental health pilot.

Staff completed the questionnaire 3 months after the initial implementation. At this point the benefits of the introduction of the dashboard were suggested as: improved access to information, increased communication and information-sharing, increased staff awareness, and data quality.

The introduction of the clinical dashboard in older adult mental health services allowed for better data availability and resulted in better data quality.

To evaluate the effects of a crisis resolution and home-based treatment team upon in-patient admission rates. We collected data for 2 years prior and 1 year post-implementation of such a service in Leeds. The chosen time frame allowed the new service to settle in and controlled for seasonal variations.

There were 4353 admissions during the period of the study, with 3325 in the 2 years prior to the service and 1028 in the year after. Generalised linear analysis found a 37.5% reduction in monthly admissions after the introduction of the team (P < 0.0001).

This study shows that in everyday clinical practice crisis resolution and home treatment teams lead to a sustained reduction in in-patient admission rates.

To compare an existing crisis resolution service with a new crisis resolution team (CRT) in Wales. The impact of the new team was measured by changes in bed days and admissions. A random sample of patients from each service was assessed for service satisfaction, social functioning and quality of life after first presentation.

The total number of bed days was reduced following the introduction of the new CRT (27.3%). The frequency and duration of compulsory admissions increased by 31% in the CRT between the first and second years and by 7% in the control service, offset by a greater reduction in informal admissions in the CRT (23.5%) compared with the control group (13.3%); overall bed usage was unchanged. Service satisfaction, social functioning and quality of life showed no important differences between the services.

Crisis resolution teams may reduce informal admissions in the short term but at the cost of more compulsory admissions later.

There is a shortage of doctors in the UK, particularly in psychiatry and pathology. Little is known about prospective medical students' career intentions or attitudes. This study aimed to report on the career intentions and attitudes to psychiatry of 819 attenders at a sixth-form conference for prospective medical students.

A much higher proportion of students expressed favourable attitudes to psychiatry as a career than might have been expected. The most popular career was paediatrics and the least popular was genitourinary medicine.

Medical schools need to be proactive in providing information, career advice and positive role models. This may counteract negative propaganda and encourage career choice in tune with students' earlier feelings and patients' needs.

A survey of 89 psychiatric trainees in a regional rotational training scheme was carried out to investigate the impact immediately after a patient's suicide and at the time of the study. Main outcome measures used were the Impact of Events Scale and a rating scale of the impact on personal and professional life.

Twenty-three trainees out of 53 who returned questionnaires reported at least one suicide. Initial reactions included shock, self-blame, guilt, grief and fear of negligence. Impact on personal and professional life was moderately severe. Over half of the trainees were ‘clinically stressed’ in the immediate aftermath, with no statistically significant reduction overtime.

The impact of a patient suicide can be profound. It can be experienced as a stressful event but can also lead to positive changes in clinical practice. Greater availability of training and support as well as further research in this area are recommended.

To investigate changes to admissions, compulsory detentions, diagnosis, length of stay and suicides following introduction of crisis resolution home treatment and assertive outreach teams.

There was a 45% reduction in admissions with an increase in the median length of stay from 15.5 to 25 days. Bed occupancy fell by 22%. The number of suicides remained constant. Detentions under sections 2 and 3 of the Mental Health Act 1983 increased whereas those under sections 5(2) and 5(4) declined.

The introduction of crisis and assertive outreach teams was followed by a reduction in admissions, particularly short admissions. The impact differed according to gender (reduction in female bed occupancy). This and the increased length of stay need to be considered when determining the number of acute psychiatric beds needed.

To describe the information and help available on the internet for people who self-harm. We searched the internet using a meta-search engine. We visited sites and followed up links with e-mails and letters. We also searched bibliographic databases, seeking published material about the internet and self-harm.

The support that we found largely took the form of information about suicide, self-injury and psychological issues. Less often, sites offered e-mail support and online discussions. We found little information about self-poisoning, and most about self-injury. There is little published research about self-harm and the internet.

The unregulated sites of the internet contain much material about self-injury. Although it is not possible at present to weigh up risks and benefits, many individuals and organisations plainly regard internet information about self-harm as a valuable service.

To appraise the value of additional information from objective measurements (QbTest system) in the clinical assessment of children and adolescents with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Two groups of ADHD assessments were compared. In the first group, assessments were undertaken without objective measures, whereas in the second group objective measures were added to the assessment. Practice outcomes were followed up over 1 year.

Objective measures improve differentiating between ADHD and other conditions whose symptoms are known to overlap with ADHD. Objective measurements reduce the risk of unidentified ADHD (P < 0.0035) as measured by subsequent rates of revised diagnosis over a 12-month period.

Introducing objective measurements into the clinical assessment of ADHD provides an increased robustness of the clinical diagnosis strengthening clinical decisions for treatment interventions.

The aim was to record the prevalence, type and severity of personality disorder dealt with by an inner-city outreach team. Patients on the register of an assertive outreach team were approached and asked to give informed consent for an informant interview with their principal worker to determine their personality status, using the informant-based ICD–10 version of the Personality Assessment Schedule.

Of the 73 patients, 62 (85%) of whom had a psychotic diagnosis, 67 (92%) had at least one personality disorder, with 37 (51%) having complex or severe personality disorders.

The findings suggest that the National Service Framework requirements for assertive outreach teams tend to select many patients with comorbid personality disorder in addition to other severe psychiatric disorders.