Management of Acute Medical Conditions at a Tertiary Psychiatric Hospital- Sentiments From a Survey of Medical Officers

Abstract

Introduction

Doctors working in a tertiary psychiatric hospital will have to treat acute medical ailments e.g. hypotension, seizures, in addition to psychiatric conditions. In our setting, doctors on call duty will attend to acute medical conditions for the psychiatric inpatients and decide which cases need a referral out for further treatment at the medical emergency department.

Objective

To investigate the sentiments of medical officers working in a tertiary psychiatric hospital with regards to management of acute medical conditions.

Methodology

An anonymous online survey was sent to 67 medical officers working in a tertiary psychiatric hospital to explore their sentiments with regards to managing acute medical conditions whilst on call duty. 3 of the questions were 'Do you feel confident managing acute medical conditions?”, 'Would you be more inclined to refer a patient out for medical treatment if he/she wasn’t from your own ward.” and 'I feel unsure managing medical conditions of patients not directly under my care.”

Results

39 (58%) medical officers completed the survey. 72% felt confident about managing acute medical conditions. 51% felt unsure managing medical conditions of patients not directly under their care whilst 62% would be more inclined to refer such patients out.

Conclusion

Most medical officers working in our tertiary psychiatry hospital feel confident about managing acute medical conditions. The confidence drops however if the patients were not under their direct care prior to the call duty and they would be more inclined to refer such patients to the medical emergency department for treatment.