What a general practitioner can expect from a consultant psychiatrist

Abstract

There are many similarities in the experience and approach of general practitioners (GPs) and psychiatrists. GPs may spend some time in psychiatric posts before settling down as principals in their own practice, while some psychiatrists are members of both their own College and the Royal College of General Practitioners. Although there is great potential benefit for patients in this symbiotic relationship, GPs and psychiatrists work in different settings that require different techniques and time-scales. The professional work of both specialities has been profoundly affected by the National Health Service (NHS) reorganisation of the early 1990s. GPs have developed new relationships not only with psychiatric colleagues, but also with professionals of other disciplines such as psychologists, social workers and counsellors.

Auditing psychiatric out‐patient records

“…The quality of psychiatric patient care is known to be partly dependent on communication between general practitioners (GPs) and psychiatrists (Wright, 1997). Many studies look at clinical letter quality (Pullen and Yellowlees, 1985; Williams and Wallace, 1974) but few focus on the pathways involved, in this communication.…”

Methods of working with primary care

“…GPs expect mental health services to be accessible. Wright (1997) has outlined the problems that GPs perceive with services: these include the geographical remoteness of mental health hospitals, poor communication, lack of clarity about management, long waiting lists, problems with urgent referrals, too little contact with other mental health professionals (e.g. CPNs, psychologists) and too few patients discharged back to general practice care.…”

Primary Care and Mental Health Needs

“…Studies have shown that there are considerable inequalities in the distribution of resources in primary care.The employment of more community psychiatric nurses, learning disability nurses and primary care facilitators to work closely with primary care services, while remaining members of community mental health/learning disability teams, may be a solution (Wright, 1997).The Royal College of Nursing (1994) has suggested that community learning disability nurses could be part of primary care teams.…”