Quality assessment of a consultation-liaison psychiatry service

Abstract

Background Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry (CLP) provides services for patients with medical-psychiatric comorbidity at the general hospital. Referral satisfaction is considered as one of the most important outcome measures of CLP interventions. Our aim was to assess the levels of satisfaction with the CLP service amongst medical staff at a university hospital in Denmark. Methods Medical staff answered an online survey regarding their experience with different aspects of inpatient and outpatient CLP services. Results There were 152 responses from 16 medical units, with a survey return rate above 85%. Measured on a 5-point Likert scale, there was a median rating of 4 in response to questions regarding communication and organizational aspects, a median rating of 5 in response to questions regarding overall evaluation of the CLP service on both inpatient and outpatient questionnaire. The questions regarding treatment quality were rated with a median of 4 on the inpatient questionnaire and 2 of the outpatient questionnaire items, and with a median of 5 on 2 outpatient items. Physicians´ evaluations were statistically more positive than nurses´. As a group, respondents already employed before the CLP unit was established and those who used the CLP services more were statistically significantly more satisfied then respondents employed after the establishment of the CLP unit and those who used the CLP service less. Conclusion The CLP services were positively appreciated and considered to be valuable among medical hospital staff. We believe that Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry deserves further help to implement and expand its services in general hospital settings. In addition, our results underline the feasibility of surveys as quality measures of clinical care.

The Effectiveness of Interventions on Improving the Mental Health Literacy of Health Care Professionals in General Hospitals: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials

“…Psychiatric consultation-liaison service is associated with reduced patients' length of general hospital stay, lowered mortality rate, and improved psychiatric symptoms (Chen et al, 2016;Singh et al, 2016;Sivin et al, 2020;Stein et al, 2020). However, it was found that the utilization rate of this service in general hospitals, which depends on the referral from treating health care professionals, was low ranging from 0.72% to 5.8% (Chen et al, 2016;Kovacs et al, 2021). The level of mental health literacy among health care professionals in general hospitals can be one of the main factors leading to this service gap (Chen et al, 2016;Giandinoto & Edward, 2014;Grover et al, 2017).…”

“…Even though physical–mental comorbidity imposes a significant burden on individuals and societies, patients with physical–mental comorbidity were not adequately referred to the mental health service they needed (Chen et al, 2016; Kovacs et al, 2021; Sartorius et al, 2015). Psychiatric consultation–liaison service is an evidence-based service that provides biopsychosocial assessments for patients with physical–mental comorbidity and professional reciprocal interaction with general hospital health care professionals through education and patient management recommendations (Bourgeois & Sharpe, 2020; Grover et al, 2017; Mak & Wong, 2019; National Health Science England, 2016).…”