A national survey of old age psychiatry services in Wales

Alison Napier

doi:10.1192/pb.26.1.18

Alison Napier

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https://doi.org/10.1192/pb.26.1.18

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Journal: Psychiatric Bulletin	Publication Date: Jan 1, 2002
License type: CC BY 4.0

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Aims and MethodA postal questionnaire was circulated to all consultants in old age psychiatry in Wales, examining provision of services with reference to the indicative service levels defined by the Royal College of Psychiatrists and Royal College of Physicians.ResultsThe response rate was 100%. Levels of staffing and resources overall fell well below recommendations and varied widely between services. The average population over 65 served by a whole time consultant was 22 995; more than twice that recommended. No association was found between morale or how well population needs were perceived as being met, and the size of the population served.Clinical ImplicationsConsiderable investment in staff and other resources is needed for the recommendations made by the royal Colleges concerning service levels and, by implication, service quality to be met.

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A postal questionnaire was circulated to all consultants in old age psychiatry in Wales, examining provision of services with reference to the indicative service levels defined by the Royal College of Psychiatrists and Royal College of Physicians
Considerable investment in staff and other resources is needed for the recommendations made by the royal Colleges concerning service levels and, by implication, service quality to be met
No association was apparent between these variables (P40.3). The findings of this survey suggest that in comparison with the Royal Colleges' guidelines, old age psychiatry services in Wales are significantly underresourced both in terms of staff and the availability of places. Exceptions to this finding were the number of community psychiatric nurses, which exceeded recommendations, and the presence of non-training grade doctors

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A postal questionnaire was circulated to all consultants in old age psychiatry in Wales, examining provision of services with reference to the indicative service levels defined by the Royal College of Psychiatrists and Royal College of Physicians. Considerable investment in staff and other resources is needed for the recommendations made by the royal Colleges concerning service levels and, by implication, service quality to be met.

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