UK Brain Injury Psychiatrists Group

The UK Brain Injury Psychiatrists Group consists of consultant psychiatrists practising in the UK who manage beds for people with problems related to acquired brain injury. The group was convened by Dr Ken Barrett in 1997, following the publication of the Health Advisory Service report on neuropsychiatric disorders, Heading for Better Care, and first met in September 1997. Informal meetings are held twice a year at the Royal College of Psychiatrists. The present chairman of the group is Dr Simon Fleminger and the secretary is Dr Anjun Bashir. The overall aim of the group is to improve the quality of psychiatric management for people who have suffered non-progressive acquired brain injury. Specific aims are: to develop a uniform method of psychiatric assessment for people with acquired brain injury; to develop treatment guidelines for use in this group of patients; to develop training opportunities for psychiatrists in the management of psychiatric consensus of acquired brain injury; to facilitate research on the psychiatric consequences of acquired brain injury; and to create a support network for psychiatrists working in this area.

Specific areas of work undertaken by the group include the development of an acquired brain injury version of Health of the Nation Outcome Scales (HoNOS-ABI), presently being piloted in collaboration with the Royal College of Psychiatrists' Research Unit, and the development of an aide-mémoire for psychiatrists undertaking a neuropsychiatric assessment of a patient with an acquired brain injury. The group is in the early stages of developing a small common database that may be used to facilitate research in this field and is looking at evidence based guidelines for the management of psychosis following acquired brain injury. For further information or to take part in this group please write to Dr Simon Fleminger, The Maudsley Hospital, Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AZ.