Nurse-led liaison psychiatry service for older adults: service evaluation

AIMS AND METHOD To comprehensively describe a nurseled consultation liaison service for older adults by retrospectively reviewing all referrals received in 2006 and comparing them against other services and benchmark reports. RESULTS Of the 298 individuals referred to psychiatric services from other hospital wards, 120 were aged 85-94 years old (40%), 193 were male (65%) and152 were referred from geriatrics (51%). A majority of 204 have not had previous contact with psychiatric services (69%). The most common diagnosis was dementia (33%, n=88), with 27% individuals (n=65) being referred onwards to secondary care. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS This nurse-led service, using a novel approach of a support worker providing further community support, functions well compared with traditional consultation models. It helps identify many individuals with dementia and engages them into community psychiatric services.