Abstract
Aims and methodTo determine knowledge, skills and confidence of junior medical emergency department staff in managing mental health patients. Over a 2-year period new emergency department junior doctors were given a questionnaire to complete early on in their post and prior to any mental health training. The questionnaire asked about knowledge, confidence, concerns and skills in the management of mental health patients in accident and emergency services.ResultsMore than half of the 32 doctors surveyed said they lacked knowledge, skills and confidence when assessing mental health patients.Clinical implicationsThe survey has demonstrated a need for mental health training of new doctors working in the emergency department. Effective training for such doctors can be offered by a liaison psychiatry service. This should be embedded in their teaching programme and be continually responsive to their perceived training needs.
Highlights
Clinical implications The survey has demonstrated a need for mental health training of new doctors working in the emergency department
Of the nine doctors who said they were confident about assessing psychiatric patients, only three had had post-medical school psychiatry exposure
No doctor mentioned performing a capacity assessment. This survey, the first of its type, has demonstrated that there is a need for mental health training of new doctors working in the emergency department
Summary
More than half of the 32 doctors surveyed said they lacked knowledge, skills and confidence when assessing mental health patients. Clinical implications The survey has demonstrated a need for mental health training of new doctors working in the emergency department. Effective training for such doctors can be offered by a liaison psychiatry service. The mental health liaison service provides two sessions of psychiatry training to new doctors near the beginning of their emergency department placement and on a rolling basis. This survey was conducted to gauge knowledge and confidence in this area before training had been received, and to inform the content of future teaching sessions.
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