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Communication between community mental health services and primary care

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 June 2014

Vincent IO Agyapong ,
Olorunfemi Ahmodu  and
Allys Guerandel
Vincent IO Agyapong
Affiliation:
Dept of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Dublin, Trinity College and St Patrick's University Hospital, James's Street, Dublin 8, Ireland
Olorunfemi Ahmodu
Affiliation:
St Vincent's University Hospital, Dublin 4, Ireland
Allys Guerandel
Affiliation:
St Vincent's University Hospital, Dublin 4, Ireland
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Abstract

Objectives: This study aims to assess the rate of six monthly communications between specialised psychiatric services and primary care and to determine factors which predict such communication.

Methods: A retrospective review of the clinical records of all patients attending the relevant local psychiatric outpatient clinic was carried out by all members of the multidisciplinary team to identify patient demographic and clinical variables as well as to determine if there has been documentation of communication with primary care in the preceding six months. Letters were sent to the relevant primary care teams regarding progress on their patients in cases where it was identified that no communication had occurred in the preceding six months.

Results: A total of 145 patients' charts were reviewed. Of these, 53.3% of the patients were females and 46.7% were males. The mean age was 47.9 years (SD = 14). Patients' diagnoses included; depression (41%), bipolar affective disorder (6.7%), schizophrenia/schizoaffective disorder (27.6%), anxiety disorders (6.7%), alcohol dependency syndrome (11%) and other disorders (7%). Overall, only 36% of patients' charts had a record of communication with primary care in the last six months. Only one variable, ‘changes made to the patents medication in the last six months’ was significantly associated with the likelihood that there had been communication with primary care with an odds ratio of 15 and a p-value of 0.00.

Conclusion: A six monthly review has a potential to improve the level of communication between specialised psychiatric services and primary care.

Keywords

Primary careCommunity mental health servicesCommunicationOutpatients
Type
Original papers
Information
Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine , Volume 28 , Issue 3 , September 2011 , pp. 134 - 137
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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