Research regarding quitting cannabis use often excludes patients with severe mental illness (SMI). We investigated facilitating and impeding factors in SMI patients and their advice to others, using semi-structured interviews with 12 SMI-patients, who were daily cannabis users for ≥12 months and had fully stopped using for ≥6 months.

Seeking distraction, social contacts in personal environment, avoiding temptation and support from professionals were facilitating factors in stopping. Impeding factors were withdrawal symptoms, user environment, experiencing stress and user's routine. Advice to other patients included to just do it, seek support from others, quit ‘cold turkey’ and acknowledge that cannabis use is a problem. Advice to mental health professionals is to discuss cannabis use from the start of treatment.

It is important to inform patients that cannabis use has negative consequences and limits the effects of treatment. Do not judge cannabis use or force the patient to stop.

The clinical practice of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) by New Zealand psychiatrists was surveyed by questionnaire. This paper compares the findings with national and regional surveys conducted in Great Britain, and considers the influence on clinical practice in New Zealand of the Royal College of Psychiatrists' ECT Handbook.

ECT has the same level of support from psychiatrists in New Zealand as in Britain, but is less frequently used. Modern brief pulse machines are used by 16 of 19 (84%) services from which data were received. The ECT Handbook was the most nominated source of information on ECT. Most (87%) respondents were aware of at least one set of ECT guidelines. However, these have apparently failed to influence some important aspects of practice. In particular, many medical conditions are still perceived as absolute contraindications.

The Royal College of Psychiatrists and the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists need to place even greater emphasis on the importance of training in ECT for both trainees and qualified psychiatrists, and on the promotion of approved guidelines.

A postal audit of practice in the South-East Thames Region of England before and after the Bournewood judgements.

There was a trebling in the rate of admission under section of elderly incapacitated patients occurred prior to the Houseof Lords' ruling. By the time of the ruling many consultants had not changed their practice. There is now, however, no impact of the ruling upon clinical practice. The majority of consultants remain concerned about the lack of safeguards for mentally incapacitated elders at the present time.

Although the Bournewood judgement was expected by some to have a permanent impact upon the management of the mentally incapacitated this has not happened. There is a need for effective and resource efficient safeguards for the mentally incapacitated to be developed.

To identify deficits in senior house officer (SHO) on-call experience since the advent of accident and emergency (A&E) liaison nurse cover, by retrospectively examining records of 267 A&E patients between October 2004 and January 2005. We collated our data in terms of presenting symptoms.

The majority (59%) of A&E referrals received no SHO attention. In particular, SHOs had no involvement in 69% of ‘social’ presentations, 72% of presentations involving drug or alcohol misuse and 63% of presentations with associated suicidality, self-harm or overdose.

Clinical experience is being lost in key areas, and is not yet being replaced via other routes. There is a pressing need to consider methods to ensure development of these skills, at the same time as adhering to the European Working Time Directive.

To explore why and how on-site urine drug testing is performed in in-patient settings. Data were collected by questionnaire in four acute psychiatric wards.

The most commonly cited reasons for testing were suspected drug use and as a routine part of the admission procedure. On-site testing was typically favoured over laboratory methods owing to the rapid turnaround of results and ease of use. In 81% of cases the result of the tests had no effect on immediate management. the majority of staff had not received formal training in their use.

Clinical use of on-site drug tests does not reflect their established limitations. Guidance is required to direct staff in the use of this commonly used assessment tool.

Clinical governance implies a need to engage in a demonstrable form of clinical audit. We decided to pilot a pre–post-therapy questionnaire study, involving both therapists and patients, with the aim of assessing its feasibility as a routine measure of outcome in our service. Questionnaires were chosen to reflect both the symptom profile Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation (CORE) and the general level of functioning Global Assessment of Functioning Scale (GAF). The patients were also questioned about their satisfaction with the therapy.

Of 53 eligible patient–therapist pairs, 26 patients and 19 therapists responded pre-treatment (overall 51% response rate). The mean (s.d.) CORE score per item was 1.93 (0.78), whereas the GAF score was 55 (15.2), somewhat belying the idea that psychotherapists only treat the ‘worried well’. The post-therapy response rate was poorer, rendering statistical analysis of change difficult to perform. The trend, however, was towards an improvement in both symptoms and level of functioning over the course of therapy.

Our patient group presents with a considerable degree of impairment. Although the response rates in this pilot study were poor, the data trend suggests that patients do benefit from the treatment offered. The aims of the study were met in that implementation of a clinical audit process within our department is feasible and the data are obtainable. The main interest, however, lies in what we learned from the process. We offer a dynamic and practical assessment of the impediments encountered, with implications for how these might be confronted.