Only a minority suffering from mental illness are treated by the specialist psychiatric service. The majority of psychiatrically ill patients seen in general practice suffer from minor neuroses, personality disorders and situational reactions and can be appropriately treated by the primary care team. However, a significant degree of morbidity, some of it severe, fails to be identified in general practice and the identification and treatment of psychiatric disorder varies according to the GP's interest and attitudes.

General adult psychiatric services in Nottingham operate on a sector basis, with clinical teams having responsibility for the psychiatric care of all patients resident in a defined area. Sectors, which are conterminous with two or more social service areas, are not of equal population size, but comprise populations likely to give rise to similar demands for psychiatric services. The Social Services Department responded to the introduction of full sectorisation of hospital services in 1982 by allocating social workers to sector teams where possible, aiding the development of multidisciplinary teams.

It is some years since Dr Henry Rollin published, in the Prison Medical Journal, an address he gave to prison doctors on the Role of The Psychiatrist on the Parole Board. Since then, there have been changes in policy and practice, and it may be opportune now to bring the work up to date, and to the notice of a generation of psychiatrists who might some day have the privilege and pleasure of serving on the Board.

The evolution of general psychiatry in India has for many years followed the British pattern, stage by stage. Child psychiatry has followed much the same path and British influences are much in evidence.

At the initial interview the doctor should assess just what the patient means by ‘impotence’. If present, its speed of onset, its duration and whether or not the patient has libido are important factors to consider. Do morning erections occur? Is ejaculation normal? It may be retrograde, premature or retarded. The presence of chronic disease, e.g. rheumatoid arthritis, hypertension, diabetes or depressive illness, may adversely affect potency, as may the drugs used in the treatment of these conditions.

It is 16 years since the Royal College of Psychiatrists published its recommendations for the training of psychiatrists. The guidelines for the training of general psychiatrists in psychotherapy have recently been reviewed and, once again, experience in behavioural psychotherapy was an integral part of such training.