At a time of financial stringency, it may seem perverse to speculate about the ideal. Nevertheless, recent experience of working in the psychiatry emergency room (ER) of a large teaching hospital in Texas set me thinking about the requirements for a really satisfactory emergency psychiatry service (eps); one which would run smoothly and be acceptable to the clients, their families and the agencies involved in making referrals; one the staff running it would feel comfortable with and get satisfaction from working in; one which would provide a comprehensive and really adequate service, rather than just a finger in the dike.