Increased referrals to an Australian Consultation Liaison Psychiatry service during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Abstract

It has been widely predicted that the COVID-19 pandemic will have a detrimental impact on the mental health (MH) of individuals. This has been dubbed as the MH 'second wave'. In Australia, these impacts have been partly mitigated by institutional responses such as increased access to psychotherapy. Consultation Liaison (CL) psychiatry services provide MH care to acutely unwell patients in general hospitals. It was hypothesised that the number of referrals to the studied service had increased since the start of the pandemic. From the Electronic medical records (eMRs), the authors collected daily referral numbers, over 3 consecutive years, to a large CL service in metropolitan Sydney. Referrals were significantly increased by 25%, 95% CI [1.14, 1.36], p < .001 since the start of the pandemic. This increase was delayed, and remained elevated despite a reduction in COVID-19 infections. This study adds evidence to the existence of the MH 'second wave', highlights a key impact on healthcare workers' well-being and will assist in guiding resource allocation decisions in the near future.