tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8489009971732520747.post54306600446441296..comments2024-03-24T07:19:28.136+00:00Comments on Lake Cocytus: ReferralsThe Shrinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10009039342346247138noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8489009971732520747.post-75241371442877837172010-03-16T22:37:34.279+00:002010-03-16T22:37:34.279+00:00Very interesting post, thank you.
With some exper...Very interesting post, thank you.<br /><br />With some experience of being 'processed' through the mental health system, I've long been baffled by the absence of any useful structured info being recorded and passed on when I was referred to a different service.<br /><br />As you say, with a physical issue there would be some facts and figures and test results available to the consultant when a patient was referred to his/her care, and a specific reason given for the referral. I appreciate that psychiatric issues don't lend themselves to neat numbers and factual tests in the way that physical ailemts do - but when I learnt about such things as the DSM I realised that great effort had been put in for many years to try and give some structure to psychiatric ailments. I thought the method of dividing and then assessing a person's issues into different categories was excellent i.e. clinical, affective, personality, physical disorders, social functioning, environmental factors. Even if the primary contact in the healtchcare system cannot diagnose, some essential facts can be gathered - such as social functioning. It is possible to gather some structured info which could be assessed, recorded, built upon and used as a person goes through the system (not only when going from one service to another but also when the patient stays with one service but the staff change and a new person needs to get up to speed on the cases in hand.) <br /><br />Some of the issues affecting a person's psychiatric state DO have factual answers, yes/no answers or criteria which can be assessed against a scale (e.g. do you ( )never, sometimes, often, always) If these questions have been asked and answered at the GPs, or other service, and the case needed escalating to a more specialised service these 'test results' could travel with the referral, in the same way the results of physical tests do. I haven't ever seen this happen myself - maybe it does now? Is there a 'structured data' facts and figures method of communication within the UK psychiatric system?<br /><br />The previous comment says there aren't many good tests or instruments for psychiatric assessment - and OK, there aren't purely objective processes such as ECG or 'test urine for X, if X found then Y' - but there ARE tests and assessment methods that have been developed to give efficient structured data to use in mental health care, both in first contact with system and over the following years if continued treatment is needed - and I'm puzzled not to have seen such assessment methods used - to save everyone's time and help efficiently evaluate each person's condition at initial referral stage and at progress reviews. <br /><br />Anyway, enough comment from me :-) Just wanted to say it isn't just the consultant psychiatrist that inwardly groans when another vague referral letter appears - we 'service users' also sigh a deep sigh over the same issue ...Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07419725208123289610noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8489009971732520747.post-29037897520224157692010-03-05T21:53:04.380+00:002010-03-05T21:53:04.380+00:00Heh, I'd love to refer to the psych team with ...Heh, I'd love to refer to the psych team with 'seems a bit mental, can you sort it?', but to be fair there are not actually many good tests or instruments for psychiatric assessment, certainly nothing like an ECG.<br /><br />On the other hand, we received a referral recently asking 'can you please optimise this patient's medical management' from our surgical colleagues, and that isn't far off.pjhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06832177812057826894noreply@blogger.com