Guidelines reduce time to consultation for a liaison psychiatry service in an Irish teaching hospital
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J Lyne1, B O'Donoghue, M Bonnar
1Department of Psychiatry, St. Vincent's University Hospital, Elm Park, Dublin 4, Ireland. johnlyne@mail.com
Background:
Timeliness of response from referral to consultation is necessary to provide best standards of care to inpatients in the general hospital setting.
Aims:
To measure the length of time from referral to consultation in a liaison psychiatry service, and improve service delivery by introducing guidelines for time to consultation.
Methods:
Time to consultation was measured on all patients presenting to a liaison psychiatry consultation service over an initial 6-month period, with subsequent repeat measurement following the introduction of guidelines.
Results:
There were significant reductions for time to consultation in the service for the second cycle of the audit (χ(2) = 43.84, P < 0.001), and targets based on international standards were achieved.
Conclusions:
Introduction of guidelines for time to consultation, may improve response times, leading to improved quality of service for inpatient consultation services.
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