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Attitudes of general practitioners to child psychiatry services

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 June 2014

Fiona McNicholas
Fiona McNicholas*
Affiliation:
Bloomfield Clinic, Guys Hospital, London SE1 9RT, England
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Abstract

Objective: To ascertain the views of Irish GPs with regard to local child psychiatry provision.

Method: 180 randomly selected general practitioners were sent a questionnaire designed to ascertain their views on child psychiatry services. They were asked to rate service provisions, professional staff and therapies offered in terms of priority.

Results: 74 (41%) returned completed questionnaires. Written reports, short waiting list times and emergency inpatient provisions were accorded the highest priority by the largest number of GPs (77%, 64.9%, and 63.5% respectively). Expertise in child sexual abuse, mental handicap and alcohol/drug addiction were also prioritised (77%, 66.2%, & 58.1% respectively). The core staffing required included child psychiatrists, community psychiatry nurses, psychologists and social workers. Family therapy followed by counselling were the most popular treatment modalities. However, more than two thirds (68.6%) of the sample rated their current service as unsatisfactory.

Conclusion: In planning service provision it is important to take into account the needs of the community, referrers' views and accessibility in order to provide optimum services for both users and referrers.

Keywords

GPs' attitudesService planningSatisfaction with servicesChild psychiatry provision
Type
Original Papers
Information
Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine , Volume 14 , Issue 2 , June 1997 , pp. 43 - 46
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1997

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