FOI: Liaison Psychiatry Referral Policy
Dear Lincolnshire Partnership 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.
Dear George
Thank you for your FOI request. A copy of all Trust polices are already published and available on the Trust's website. To assist you can access Trust policies by clicking the following link:
https://www.lpft.nhs.uk/about-us/accessi...
If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you have the right to ask for an internal review. Internal review requests should be submitted within two months of the date of receipt of the response to your original letter and should be addressed to: FOI Department, Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, Trust Headquarters, St George’s, Long Leys Road, Lincoln, LN1 1FS. If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.
Yours sincerely
FOI
Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
Trust Headquarters, St George’s, Long Leys Road, Lincoln, LN1 1FS
Web: www.lpft.nhs.uk
CONFIDENTIALITY STATEMENT
DISCLAIMER: This e-mail and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. Therefore if the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this E-Mail is strictly prohibited. Any views or opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust unless otherwise explicitly stated. The information contained in this e-mail may be subject to public disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Unless the information is legally exempt from disclosure, the confidentiality of this e-mail and your reply cannot be guaranteed
Dear FOIREQUEST(LPT) (LINCOLNSHIRE PARTNERSHIP NHS FOUNDATION TRUST),
Many thanks for your reply. Unfortunately I cannot find anything related to my FOI request on the link you have sent me. Therefore please could I ask you to respond to the questions in my FOI? Specifically, questions 1, 2 and 6 (which are answerable even in the absence of a relevant policy available either internally or on your public website you have linked me to).
Many thanks.
Yours sincerely,
George Gillett
Dear George
With regards to your Freedom of Information Request as per your original email below and your subsequent email dated 11/12/19 requesting further information on . Please find below, Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust response.
.At which general hospital(s) does your Trust provide liaison psychiatry services?
Answer: Lincoln County Hospital, Lincoln and Pilgrim Hospital, Boston
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).
Answer: All Trust policies are publically available on the Trust's website. To assist the link is as follows:
https://www.lpft.nhs.uk/about-us/accessi...
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)?
Answer: full details of the Trust's Mental Health Liaison service is published on the Trust's website. To assist the link is as follows:
https://www.lpft.nhs.uk/our-services/adu...
If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you have the right to request for an internal review. Internal review requests should be submitted within two months of the date of receipt of the response to your original letter and should be addressed to: FOI Department, Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, Trust Headquarters, Long Leys Road, Lincoln, Lincolnshire LN1 1FS. If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.
Kind regards
FOI Administrator
Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
Trust Headquarters
St George’s Site
Long Leys Road
Lincoln
LN1 1FS
Email: [email address]
Dear FOIREQUEST(LPT) (LINCOLNSHIRE PARTNERSHIP NHS FOUNDATION TRUST),
Many thanks for your response. Please could you clarify the answer question 2 (pasted below)? If there is a policy, please could you kindly attach it and share it with us, as I unfortunately cannot identify any relevant policy on the website link you shared.
2.Is there a written policy about prioritising patients who have been referred to liaison psychiatry, or determining which referrals to accept?
Many thanks.
Yours sincerely,
George Gillett
Good afternoon George
Thank you for your email dated 28/02/20, I have passed your request onto the relevant department and as soon as I have a response from them, I will again be in contact.
Kind regards
FOI Administrator
Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
Trust Headquarters
St George’s Site
Long Leys Road
Lincoln
LN1 1FS
Email: [email address]
Dear George
Further to your email dated 28/02/20, we hope that the information provided in this email, identifies the information you require. Please also see the attached.
https://www.lpft.nhs.uk/about-us/accessi...
If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you have the right to request for an internal review. Internal review requests should be submitted within two months of the date of receipt of the response to your original letter and should be addressed to: FOI Department, Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, Trust Headquarters, Long Leys Road, Lincoln, Lincolnshire LN1 1FS. If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.
Kind regards
FOI Administrator
Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
Trust Headquarters
St George’s Site
Long Leys Road
Lincoln
LN1 1FS
Email: [email address]
Dear FOIREQUEST(LPT) (LINCOLNSHIRE PARTNERSHIP NHS FOUNDATION TRUST),
Many thanks for sharing the policy. Could you please respond to questions 3 and 5 of our original request (pasted below)?
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)?
5.When (if at all) was local practice last audited against this policy and what were the findings?
Many thanks.
Yours sincerely,
George Gillett
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