21 December 2010
The team of doctors and nurses who help to support people with mental health issues while they are patients at St Helier Hospital has been given the highest possible rating in a national accreditation scheme.
The liaison psychiatry service helps and treats patients with a wide range of issues, including dementia, alcohol and drug addiction, depression and anxiety. And now, after meeting 196 of 200 national standards, the team have been named as 'excellent' in the scheme run by the Royal College of Psychiatrists.
Consultant psychiatrist, Dr Jim Bolton leads the service. He said: "As one of the first liaison psychiatry teams in the whole of the UK to be awarded the accreditation of 'excellent', we are all very proud of our achievement.
"Our success is down to the hard work of our staff and the team's commitment to making sure that our patients get all of the support that they need. During the last year we have put in extra effort to ensure our service is as good as it possibly can be, and that includes extending it to support older patients with dementia and giving more information to patients who are seen our A&E (accident and emergency) department .
"Sadly, people who are in hospital regularly are 25% more likely to have a mental health issue than people who do not need regular treatment. Whether that's because a patient has a chronic illness and has become depressed or because they have a substance misuse problem, we are here to make sure that while they are given their medical care, they are also receiving support and treatment for any psychiatric issue."
As part of the accreditation process the liaison psychiatry service carried out an anonymous survey of patients and carers and collected feedback from hospital colleagues who refer patients to the service. The service was also visited by an external review team.
Positive comments made by patients of the liaison psychiatry service included, "The best thing I did was to see a member of the liaison team. This has helped me to talk freely about my problems to family and friends. I could not have got back on track if it was not for all the help, advice and patience I had received."
