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Delayed response to abnormal lithium results is no longer necessary

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

J. R. King  and
N. J. Birch
J. R. King*
Affiliation:
Worcestershire Community Trust and University of Birmingham, Hill Crest Clinic, Quinney's Lane, Redditch B98 7WG
N. J. Birch
Affiliation:
University of Wolverhampton
*
∗Correspondence
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Abstract

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A survey of one year's lithium results for a hearth district of 170 000 disclosed unacceptable delays in checking abnormally high values. Only 17% of moderately elevated levels were rechecked within a week. The problem was most marked with patients monitored in general practice, but one particularly high result in a patient monitored in psychiatric out-patients remained unchecked for over three weeks as a result of poor communication between general practitioner and psychiatrist. A trial of an on-the-spot monitoring service using new technology has simplified procedures and reduced to zero the number of results taking over a week to check.

Type
Original papers
Information
Psychiatric Bulletin , Volume 22 , Issue 8 , August 1998 , pp. 471 - 473
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © 1998 The Royal College of Psychiatrists

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