There have been a number of developments in the area of neurosurgery for mental disorder (NMD) in recent years, including marked changes in clinical delivery. This report was produced following extensive collection of evidence from a wide range of individuals and bodies, and a comprehensive review of published data on neurosurgery up to the end of 1999. The working group adopted the following definition of NMD:
‘A surgical procedure for the destruction of brain tissue for the purposes of alleviating specific mental disorders carried out by a stereotactic or other method capable of making an accurate placement of the lesion.’
The report discusses the future of NMD services, and concludes that steps should be taken to conserve the current resources within established centres in the UK. It suggests that this could be achieved through the establishment of an independent national advisory committee, which would monitor all aspects of NMD practice. A central task of the national advisory committee would be the establishment of a multi-centre prospective audit, through the deployment of standardised process and outcome measures. It could also be responsible for the development of nationally agreed assessment and treatment protocols, liaising with other international centres and researchers, and publishing an annual report on NMD activity in the UK.
Open access
eLetters
No eLetters have been published for this article.