Liaison Psychiatry is primarily concerned with the detection and treatment of psychiatric disorders within the general hospitals. 1A study2 also highlighted the presence of only 45.5 core trainee posts in this speciality nationally.

To survey the liaison psychiatry service recently set up as a service provision at a psychiatry unit in North Derbyshire.

We retrospectively reviewed all case notes of patients who had been assessed from January 2007 to June 2009 by the consultation-liaison service.

A total of 136 patients had been assessed since this service began in September 2007. Majority of the patients (72%) were between the ages of 31 to 65 years, while the gender was equally distributed. 51% were referred from the medical ward and most of them had been referred by core trainee. 95% of the referral was during working hours and 74% of the patients were assessed within 24 hours. Their diagnosis was variable, for e.g. 29% had depression, 19% had substance misuse problems, 8% had psychosis etc. 66% of patients were managed by medication advice, psycho-education and referral to CMHT/GP.

Liaison psychiatry was established for service provision, but it is apparent that it fulfilled both clinical and educational needs, despite the challenges. Adequate experience can be gained with a well supervised service. The overall educational value of designing and implementing a new service as a trainee cannot be overstated; it is something which is difficult to learn in classrooms.