Health Advisory Service Research Articles

Patients transferred from a regional adolescent unit to adult wards within the same hospital

In 1986 the report Bridges over Troubled Waters (NHS Health Advisory Service, 1986) stated quite categorically that patients under the age of 16 should not be treated in adult psychiatric wards. The National Association for Children in Hospital has also worked tirelessly against children and adolescents being treated in adult hospital wards, although this has mainly concerned the paediatric, medical and surgical fields. However few guidelines were laid down about the function of psychiatric units for children and adolescents when the majority of such units were first being established in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Indeed in the circular from the Ministry of Health (1964) about the need for such units it was stated that some adolescent patients could suitably be treated in adult wards. However no age limits were specified in the circular. There have been no specific guidelines issued subsequently by the Department of Health about the use of adult psychiatric beds for adolescents.

Method in our madness? An audit of a regional adolescent unit

Adolescent psychiatric services differ considerably in terms of the patient groups they seek to address and in their modes of treatment (Health Advisory Service, 1986). The Prestwich Adolescent Unit is a general purpose, seven day, regional service for adolescent psychiatry, based in Salford Health Authority. Serving a population of 4½ million, it offers a mix of in-patient, day-patient, out-patient and consultation/liaison work, specialising in the treatment of mental illness.

Who needs an adolescent unit? A referrer satisfaction study

Despite the recommendations of the Health Advisory Service report Bridges over Troubled Waters (1986), there has not been any dramatic growth in adolescent psychiatry as a sub-speciality. The HAS report highlighted the largely unmet special needs of this age group, the rising risk for mental illness with increasing age in adolescence, and the need for effective liaison between professional disciplines working with this age group. Nevertheless adolescent services increasingly perceive themselves as under threat from political initiatives and continue to fight their corner (e.g. Wells, 1989).

The Health Advisory Service--an Evaluation

The Health Advisory Service--an Evaluation

Concern for colleagues or permission to be ill: The story of the Medical Benevolent Association of New South Wales and the Doctors' Health Advisory Service (NSW)

Concern for colleagues or permission to be ill: The story of the Medical Benevolent Association of New South Wales and the Doctors' Health Advisory Service (NSW)

Mary Henkel, Maurice Kogan, Tim Packwood and Penny Youall, The Health Advisory Service: An Evaluation, King Edward's Hospital Fund, London, 1989. 104 pp. paper £9.95.

Mary Henkel, Maurice Kogan, Tim Packwood and Penny Youall, The Health Advisory Service: An Evaluation, King Edward's Hospital Fund, London, 1989. 104 pp. paper £9.95.

The Health Advisory Service

The Health Advisory Service

Who cares for the older adolescent?

One of the first principles on which a good service for adolescents will be based, according to the Health Advisory Service Report Bridges Over Troubled Waters (1986), is “The age group concerned from 12–19 years requires separate consideration and provision”. Up to the publication of this report, many adolescent psychiatrists dealt only with those up to the age of 16 (Bruggen & O'Brien, 1987) or up to school leaving age. Such a recommendation means a considerable change of practice, and this study was designed to assess the nature of that change.

Reasons for admission to an adolescent unit

Three years admissions to a regional adolescent unit are analyzed to obtain information on the referral, the adolescent and family, and the behaviours leading to admission. The findings are discussed with particular relevance to the N.H.S. Health Advisory Service report on services for disturbed adolescents. Possible implications of the report which are not described by the H.A.S. are described.

NHS Health Advisory Service

NHS Health Advisory Service

Belgravian Bureaucracy

In his Annual Report on the Health Advisory Service, Dr Peter Horrocks makes a statement that should worry all psychiatrists. He writes, “Participation and leadership in the process of change needs to be re-gained by the respective professional bodies, not least by the Royal College of Psychiatrists”.

Health Advisory Service

Health Advisory Service

Health Advisory Service

Health Advisory Service

Deaf in a hearing unit: Coping of staff and adolescents

The call from the U.K. Health Advisory Service to provide adolescents with sensory handicaps with access to psychiatric services is considered in the light of one adolescent unit's experience with a deaf boy.

The components of a comprehensive district health service for elderly people — a personal view

Based on experience as a consultant in geriatric medicine and much additional knowledge gained in reviewing services for elderly patients as Director of the NHS Health Advisory Service for England and Wales, the author presents a model against which individual Districts might review their services for old people. Preventive and community needs are covered, together with the general and specialized hospital services essential for effective management of illness in old age.

The Health Advisory Service (HAS)

The Health Advisory Service (HAS)

Health Advisory Service

Health Advisory Service

Health Advisory Service

Health Advisory Service

Health Advisory Service

Health Advisory Service

Health Advisory Service

Health Advisory Service