Hospitals need a minimum of about one full-time consultation-liaison (C-L) psychiatrist per 100 beds, but more are needed if they are expected to do any research, teaching or address more complex elements of illnesses, an Australian study concludes.
Collecting data over five years from three urban hospitals, the C-L psychiatrists who did the research found there were 2.4 referrals per 100 hospital admissions, each taking an average of 2.6 hours.
Over 40% of referrals were for depression, followed by behaviour problems (20.6%), assessment of suicidality (16.5%), anxiety (11.2%) and psychosis (9.5%).
There was an average of 0.84 equivalent full time C-L psychiatry positions per 100 beds, 70% of which were trainee positions.
General medicine was the most common source of referrals, comprising 31% of...
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