FOI: Liaison Psychiatry Referral Policy

Response to this request is long overdue. By law, under all circumstances, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust should have responded by now (details). You can complain by requesting an internal review.

Dear Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust,

We are a group of clinicians & researchers carrying out a national evaluation of liaison psychiatry service provision in NHS hospitals across England. As part of this project, we are submitting FOI requests to all NHS Mental Health Trusts to ask about local policy and practice. We kindly request the following information as per the FOI Act 2000.

Our enquiries relate to the provision of liaison psychiatry services in adult general hospitals, including patients in inpatient wards or A&E departments. This research is conducted as part of an Academic Foundation Programme research post. No specific grant was awarded for this project. All findings will be de-identified from Hospitals or Trusts before publication.

1. At which general hospital(s) does your Trust provide liaison psychiatry services?

For each of the above hospitals, please answer the questions below:

2. Is there a written policy about prioritising patients who have been referred to liaison psychiatry, or determining which referrals to accept? (If No, please move to Question 6).

3. If so, is this policy made available to all (psychiatry and non-psychiatry) clinicians working within the general hospital? If so, please specify where (e.g. Trust intranet)?

4. Please attach the policy document if possible. We aim to extract only certain information from the policy document, so if the complete policy document cannot be sent, please send the following information:

a. Details on which locations this policy covers and which patients (i.e. inpatient ward/A&E/referrals) the policy covers.

b. Details on any guidelines to prioritise or determine which referrals to accept. Specifically:
i. Patients should be medically fit for discharge prior to review
ii. Patients should be medically fit for assessment prior to review
iii. No restriction applied; all patients are reviewed
iv. Any other methods used to prioritise patient referrals (please specify)

c. Whether the policy states which professional group (e.g. psychiatrist, psychologist, nurse) should review the referral and/or assess the patient? If so, please specify.

d. When was the policy last reviewed or updated?

5. When (if at all) was local practice last audited against this policy and what were the findings?

6. At your Trust, how do doctors refer patients to liaison psychiatry for review (e.g. by telephone, by electronic referral system, by email, by fax)?

Many thanks for your time. Please do not hesitate to get in touch by email if you have any questions or clarifications. We look forward to your reply.

Yours faithfully,

Dr George Gillett, 
Academic Foundation Programme Doctor
Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford 

Dr William Lee, 
Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer, University of Exeter Medical School.
Consultant Liaison Psychiatrist, Devon Partnership NHS Trust.

Freedom of information, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust

Thank you for your email received by the Freedom of Information team at Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust.

We are now processing your request for information and will respond to you in full as soon as possible.

Under the Freedom of Information Act the Trust has 20 working days in which to respond to your request. If for any reason it becomes apparent that there could be a delay in responding to you, we will advise you accordingly.

Please note that we publish our responses to FOIs as part of a Disclosure Log on our website and requesters’ names are published. If you do not wish your name to be published, please notify us ASAP by return e-mail to [Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust request email].

Kind regards,

Carol
CPFT Freedom of Information Team

E [Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust request email]

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust
HQ: Elizabeth House, Fulbourn Hospital, Fulbourn, Cambridge CB21 5EF

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Freedom of information, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust

1 Attachment

Dear Dr Gillett

Thank you for your email requesting information through the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Please find the Trust's formal response attached.

Kind regards,

Carol
CPFT Freedom of Information Team

E [Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust request email]

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust
HQ: Elizabeth House, Fulbourn Hospital, Fulbourn, Cambridge CB21 5EF

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Dear Freedom of information,

Many thanks for your reply. Please could you clarify what you mean by "fitness to assess" and whether this is explicitly defined in your policy (and how it is defined).

Many thanks.

Yours sincerely,

George Gillett

Dear Freedom of information,

Many thanks for your response in January. Please could I again request clarification of whether MFFA is defined in your policy (and if so, how), and who (the liaison psychiatry team or general hospital clinicians) are responsible to carry out this assessment?

Additionally, I'd be grateful if you could share the policy in full, but understand if this is not possible.

Many thanks.

Yours sincerely,

George Gillett

Freedom of information, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust

Good afternoon

I have gone back to the team that provided the information and will let you know when I receive the information you request.

Kind regards,

Carol
CPFT Freedom of Information Team

E [Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust request email]

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust
HQ: Elizabeth House, Fulbourn Hospital, Fulbourn, Cambridge CB21 5EF

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