Objective: To evaluate the reaction of local general practitioners to a new psychiatry of old age service 10 months following its inception.

Method: An anonymous questionnaire was sent to all GPs in the catchment area of the Service. Questions asked the opinion of GPs on structure and process of the Service, and also asked for suggestions as to how the Service could patients did not have any reservations about being seen by a psychiatrist, but 72% of rural GPs felt the location of the service base (in the city) was a problem.

Conclusion: The results of the study suggest that GPs are reasonably satisfied with the initial service offered by the new specialty. Future service developments must address issues highlighted such as access to the service for patients living outside the city, improving the inpatient facilities for patients with a functional mental illness, and improving communication with GPs.

Objective: Two day hospitals were established in North Dublin in 1989 to play a key role in the first old age psychiatry service in the Republic of Ireland. The purpose of this study was to identify the characteristics and needs of day hospital attenders, to carry out a preliminary evaluation of the role of the day hospitals in meeting these needs, and make recommendations for future developments. Method: All 237 regular attenders between March 1989 and 1992 were included. Demographic, social, medical and psychiatric data including CAGE questionnaire, Folstein mini-mental state, and Clifton Assessment Procedures for the Elderly survey version, were recorded at initial assessment. Data on duration and outcome of attendance, use of inpatient, general hospital and community care services were collected from a retrospective study of records and subjected to statistical analysis. Results: The average age was 78 years (SD 6yrs); 139 (59%) patients had organic and 98 (41%) had functional psychiatric disorders; 198 (84%) patients had a medical problem. In the functional group, 24 (25%) required acute admission; 70 (71%) patients were managed in the community. Twenty eight (29%) patients required residential care or had died on average 8 months after initial contact. In the group with dementia 104 (75%) had CAPE scores C/D/E at initial assessment, indicating high dependency. Eighty eight (63%) patients were in residential care or dead on average 8 months later. Conclusions: Day hospital treatment enabled elderly patients with functional psychiatric illness to be treated in the community with low usage of beds. It provided only short/medium term care for patients with dementia, who had little support from statutory services. A comprehensive network of services is necessary to support highly dependent patients in the community.