Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rdxmf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T10:45:05.520Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Old age psychiatry: a speciality in transition

Results of the 1996 survey

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

John Wattis ,
Andrew MacDonald  and
Paul Newton
John Wattis
Affiliation:
Leeds Community and Mental Health Services NHS Trust The Mansion, Meanwood Park Hospital Tongue Lane, Leeds LS6 4QB
Andrew MacDonald
Affiliation:
Wakefield and Pontefract Community Health Trust
Paul Newton
Affiliation:
Leeds Community and Mental Health Services NHS Trust, Leeds
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.
Aims and methods

We aimed to update Information on the development of old age psychiatric services using a postal survey of consultants.

Results

The response rate (51%) was lower than previous surveys in the 1980s. Senior academic appointments showed little increase and academic posts were largely National Health Service (NHS) funded. Services had smaller catchment areas and increased numbers of staff in medicine, nursing and social work, but not in occupational therapy, physiotherapy and psychology. Relative workload was increasing and most services included early-onset dementia. There was a decrease in provision of NHS long-stay beds with only marginal changes in other facilities.

Clinical implications

Services were offering more to patients than previously. Weakness in academic development may cause problems for the future; the results suggested that recruitment in some disciplines may already be problematical. There is a need to develop the role of NHS long-stay facilities.

Type
Original papers
Information
Psychiatric Bulletin , Volume 23 , Issue 6 , June 1999 , pp. 331 - 335
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © 1999 The Royal College of Psychiatrists

References

Allen, P. (1994) Medical and dental staffing prospects in the NHS in England and Wales 1992. Health Trends. 25, 118 125.Google Scholar
Alzheimer's Disease Society (1993) NHS Psychogeriatric Continuing Care Beds: A Report. London: Alzheimer's Disease Society.Google Scholar
Alzheimer's Disease Society (1997) No Accounting for Health: Health Commissioning for Dementia, pp. 1 26. London: Alzheimer's Disease Society.Google Scholar
Benbow, S. M., Jolley, D. & Leonard, I. J. (1993) All work? A day in the life of geriatric psychiatrists. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 8, 1019 1022.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Department of Health and Social Security (1972) Services For Mental Illness Related to Old Age. HM(72)71. London: DHSS.Google Scholar
Health Service Commissioner (1996) Report of the Health Service Commissioner on Selected Investigations October 1995—March 1996. pp. 116 117. London: HMSO.Google Scholar
Iliffe, S., Haines, A., Gallivans, S., et al (1991) Assessment of elderly people in general practice. 1. Social circumstances and mental state. British Journal of General Practice, 41, 9 12.Google Scholar
MacDonald, A. (1986) Do general practitioners ‘miss’ depression in elderly patients? British Medical Journal, 292, 1365 1367.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
National Health Service Health Advisory Service (1982) The Rising Tide: Developing Services for Mental Illness in Old Age. Sutton: NHS Health Advisory Service.Google Scholar
O'Connor, D. W., Pollitt, P. A., Hyde, J. B., et al (1988) Do general practitioners miss dementia in elderly patients? British Medical Journal, 297, 1107 1110.Google Scholar
Royal College of Psychiatrists (1992) Mental Health of the Nation. The Contribution of Psychiatry. A Report of the President's Working Group Council Report CR16. London: Royal College of Psychiatrists.Google Scholar
Royal College of Psychiatrists (1996) Annual Census of Psychiatric Staffing. Occasional Paper OP38. London: Royal College of Psychiatrists.Google Scholar
Royal College of Physicians of London & Royal College of Psychiatrists (1989) Care of Elderly People with Mental Illness: Specialist Services and Medical Training. London: Royal College of Physicians and Royal College of Psychiatrists.Google Scholar
Wattis, J. P. (1988) Geographical variations in the provision of psychiatric services for old people. Age and Ageing, 17, 171 180.Google Scholar
Wattis, J. P. (1991) To the editor. Health Trends, 23, 44.Google Scholar
Wattis, J. P., Wattis, L. & Arie, T. H. (1981) Psychogeriatrics: a national survey of a new branch of psychiatry. British Medical Journal, 282, 1529 1533.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wattis, J. P. & Arie, T. H. (1984) Further developments in psychogeriatrics in Britain. British Medical Journal 280, 778.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wind, A. W., Van Staveren, G., Schellevis, F. G., et al (1994) The validity of the judgement of general practitioners on dementia. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 9, 543 549.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.