Objectives: We sought to determine the prevalence of and the factors associated with violent and aggressive incidents among clients attending an out-patient methadone stabilisation and detoxification programme in Dublin.

Methods: We retrospectively examined all incident report forms over a two-year period. We also obtained information on demographics, main drug of abuse, timing and location of the incident as well as psychiatric and physical comorbidity among the perpetrators from case note review.

Results: Two hundred and ninety-five incidents occurred over the study period. The overall rate of violence and aggression was 85 per 1,000 clients attending the centre per year. Most incidents involved verbal abuse. Females were significantly more likely to be involved in assaults compared to males. A high proportion of clients (80%) who were physically aggressive tested positive for benzodiazepine medication.

Conclusions: Levels of recorded violence have remained stable however racial abuse has increased in recent years. The relatively low overall rate of violence suggests that existing measures have helped reduce the number of aggressive and violent incidents in the centre. Most of the victims were either doctors, nursing staff or general assistants. This finding reflected their respective roles in the centre, which included limit setting and dealing with positive drug screens among clients.

Objective: The evaluation of psychosocial need is an important part of the assessment of any patient who presents to a psychiatrist. The Camberwell Assessment of Need (CAN) instrument was developed for the systematic assessment of need in people with severe and enduring mental illness. Variations of the CAN have been developed for forensic, elderly and learning disability populations. Patients presenting to psychiatrists in the general hospital may also have different needs to those presenting to psychiatrists in other settings. We set out to examine whether the CAN would be useful in identifying needs in patients referred to psychiatrists in the general hospital with self-harm or alcohol problems.

Method: Over a four-month period from September 2004 we prospectively assessed all patients with self-harm or alcohol problems referred to a liaison psychiatry service. We used the short version of the Camberwell Assessment of Need instrument (CANSAS) to assess psychosocial needs. Urgent referrals to a local psychiatric service of patients with severe enduring mental illness (SEMI) were assessed using identical methodology over the same time period and used as a comparison group.

Results: Over the study period 53 patients with self-harm, 42 with alcohol problems and 45 with SEMI were assessed. Patients presenting with self-harm and alcohol problems had significantly fewer needs than those with SEMI (4.40 vs 3.98 vs 7.96, p < 0.001). Looking after the home, self-care, daytime activity, psychotic symptoms, safety to others and sexual expression needs were significantly greater in the SEMI group than in either the DSH or alcohol groups. Only safety to self-needs in the DSH group and alcohol needs in the alcohol group were significantly higher than in the SEMI group. The proportion of needs that were unmet was similar in each group.

Conclusions: The CANSAS instrument identified some needs in deliberate self-harm and alcohol problem patients that might not have been identified during the course of a standard psychosocial assessment. It was easy to administer and as such was a useful addition to the assessment process. However the development of a more specific instrument for the assessment of need in these populations would be useful.

Objectives: To determine the extent to which general practitioners are currently active in the screening, assessment, diagnosis and management of eating disorders. To identify current deficits in service delivery for eating disordered patients, as identified by general practitioners.

Method: A postal questionnaire was circulated to 360 general practitioners within the greater Dublin area and North Eastern Health Service Executive.

Results: Response rate was 25%. Respondents had lower case-loads of eating disordered patients than would be expected given the epidemiology of anorexia and bulimia nervosa. Most do not routinely screen for eating disorders, even in at-risk populations and are unaware of the current evidence-based data for guidance. GPs do not feel confident at managing eating disorders within the primary care setting and see their chief role as that of referral to psychiatric services. Treatment outcomes are typically poor. Concern was expressed at the lack of access to specialist treatment in the public sector. Specific deficits in service provision were highlighted including delays in assessment, lack of services appropriate to the adolescent population, poor service transition, and poor availability of psychotherapy at primary care level.

Conclusions: Eating disorders are currently underdiagnosed in the primary care setting. Use of simple screening tools might aid detection of pathological eating patterns, particularly in at-risk groups. General practitioners feel under-equipped to manage these complex disorders, given that the resources required to provide high quality care are not widely available. Better integration of primary and secondary services, coupled with training for GPs in the area of screening, assessment and diagnosis, may lead to earlier intervention and improved outcomes.

Objectives: To examine the knowledge and experiences of side-effects and their monitoring in patients prescribed atypical antipsychotic medications.

Methods: A tick box survey was designed to ask questions of patients prescribed atypical antipsychotic medications about side-effects and monitoring for them. This survey was distributed anonymously to all suitable outpatient attendees over a three month period who had been prescribed atypical antipsychotic medication for at least one year.

Results: Seventy-four of the 90 surveys (82%) distributed were returned complete. Fifty-six (76%) of those surveyed said they were currently experiencing side-effects. Twenty-two (39%) said they had not told their psychiatrist about the side-effects. Weight gain was most commonly complained of (49%). Forty-five (61%) said that they had had no monitoring blood tests in the past year. Fifty-one (69%) did not know that certain monitoring blood tests were recommended.

Conclusions: Patients prescribed atypical antipsychotic medications are not currently being monitored as best practice dictates. It cannot be assumed that GPs will pursue this monitoring. More resources are needed for mental health services so that adequate monitoring services can be provided.

Objective: Long waiting lists have a negative impact on client satisfaction, staff moral and referrer's opinion of the service. The aim of this project was to decrease a waiting list from a maximum wait of more than one year to a wait of no more than six weeks.

Method: We introduced three simultaneous initiatives to decrease a long waiting list; (i) an individually led triage system (ii) setting-up an attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) specialist team and (iii) division of the residual waiting list between team members. These initiatives were introduced and analysed over a ten month period. The study period ran from 1/3/2004 to 31/12/2004.

Results: The waiting time to first appointment was significantly reduced. At the beginning of the study there were 62 people waiting to be seen and each had waited an average of 122 days with a waiting time range of 0-449 days. At the end of the study, there were 19 people waiting with a mean waiting time of 19 days and a range of 0-168 days.

Conclusions: The single most powerful intervention was the triage system. The ADHD clinic allowed referrals to be streamlined in a very structured and efficient way. The division of the residual waiting list was not as onerous as it first appeared. The service saw more referrals then ever during the study period. Referrers and families appreciated being seen more quickly. By removing the burden of the waiting list from staff the potential for creative thinking around further development of the service increased.

Objectives: Second opinion is a medical opinion provided by a second physician/ medical expert after first receiving an opinion by another physician/ medical expert. Little is known about the provision of second opinion in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). This study describes the second opinion service provided by the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) in the South Wales region.

Methods: We undertook a survey of a second opinion service in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). We also assessed whether the recommendations made by the second opinion clinic were implemented by the referrers.

Results: The diagnoses were not changed in 68% of the cases but alternative treatments were suggested. In 90% of the cases the treatment recommended by the clinic was implemented and nearly 70% of the patients showed improvement with the recommended treatment.

Conclusion: A second opinion service can provide valuable support and expertise to CAMHS and the referred families.

Early intervention in depression is important for many reasons including expeditious alleviation of suffering, assisting parenthood, suicide prevention and helping the economy. The fact that people with depression frequently employ maladaptive coping strategies, notably alcohol misuse, suggests the need for evidence-based self-help for sufferers. Self-help can be viewed as a philosophy of patient empowerment and as “a health technology solution to volume and demand”. Bibliotherapy (self-help using written materials) provides information and encourages the reader to make changes leading to improved self-management. Enthusiasm for the use of bibliotherapy in depression should be tempered by pursuit of a sound evidence base.

We present a case of possible olanzapine-induced rhabdomyolysis in the absence of other features of neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS). There is evidence to suggest that there are different underlying pathophysiological mechanisms for rhabdomyolysis occurring alone, in contrast to when it presents as part of NMS. This has possible implications for drug rechallenge which is discussed.

The use of complex psychopharmacological regimens is increasingly advocated in more difficult to treat depressive illness. The combination of venlafaxine with mirtazapine – ‘California rocket fuel’ is one such example involving an SNRI combined with a NaSSA. We describe two cases that highlight the potential usefulness of duloxetine used in combination with mirtazapine that also emphasise the danger of drug-induced hypomanic switching. This combination may have a specific role for carefully selected patients but caution is needed given the potential to induce profound alterations in mental state.

A case is described in which a man with chronic pain syndrome (CPS) presented to a city General hospital in suicidal crisis after referral from a provincial psychiatric unit, having taken an overdose of a variety of medications, precipitated by the absence of his opioid (Oxycontin) analgesia which he had been abusing intra-nasally. This is to our knowledge the first reported case in Europe of drug diversion from oral to intranasal use of Oxycontin, a controlled-release preparation of the synthetic opiate, oxycodone hydrochloride. There is also a dearth of reference to the abuse potential of this agent in the European literature. As sufferers from chronic pain syndrome increase in number, and opiate prescription rates worldwide are maintained, this case highlights the potential of opiate abuse or dependence and drug diversion emerging as a significant medical problem in CPS patients in Europe.