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Mental Health Liaison Team

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Mental Health: Intervention Skills for the Emergency Services

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Abstract

Liaison psychiatry is an area of growing interest, which has seen considerable increases in funding in recent years as part of a government commitment to the concept of parity of esteem between physical and mental health care. This chapter provides an overview of South London and Maudsley’s nurse-led service operating within the Emergency Department of King’s College Hospital, London. It outlines the model and structure of the team, the role of the liaison nurse, an exploration of legal and ethical issues, benefits and challenges for the mental health patient and consideration of the future of the service, particularly in the context of the changes many teams underwent in response to the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Associate Director of Nursing for Mental Health, King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK

    Kieran Quirke

Authors
  1. Kieran Quirke
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kieran Quirke .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Middlesbrough, UK

    Tricia Scott

Appendices

Appendix 1 King’s Liaison Data, November 2020: January 2021

Fig. 1
A bar graph illustrates the referral numbers for November 2020, December 2020, and January 2021. November 2020 tops the position with 340 followed by January 2021 with 320. Values are approximate.

Referral numbers by month

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Fig. 2
A pie chart illustrates the presentation by gender. For males, 54%, and for females, 46%.

Presentations by gender

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Fig. 3
A pie chart illustrates the presentation by age group. From 18 to 24 is 22%, 25 to 49 is 53%, 50 to 64 is 20%, and 65 plus is 5%.

Presentations by age group

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Fig. 4
A line graph exhibits the fluctuations in time. The time values are illustrated for 24 hours.

Presentations by time

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Fig. 5
A table exhibits the Response rate, median, and mean total wait times for November 2020, December 2020, and January 2021. The values are represented for the headers, seen within 1 hour, median wait time, and mean total wait time.

Response rate, median and mean total wait times

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Fig. 6
A sidebar graph illustrates the attendance reasons. Suicidal ideation tops the position with more than 250, followed by D S H, 245, followed by psychotic symptoms or odd behaviors, and much more.

Attendance reasons

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Fig. 7
A pie chart illustrates self-harm by each type. Values are in percentage, cutting, 13, hanging, 4, jump from height 7, jump in front of the vehicle, 2, other D S H, 6, overdose 61, poisoning, 3, self stabbing, 4.

Self-harm by type

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Fig. 8
A bar chart illustrates the discharge destinations for C M H T, C P o S, custody, D N W, G P, G P and voluntary, H T T, inpatient, and medical admission. C M H T tops the position with 290, followed by G P, H T T, and much more.

Discharge destinations

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Appendix 2 Code 10 Pathway

A flowchart illustrates the K C H emergency department for Code 10. The pathway is, code 10 activated, code 10 team assemble, handover from police or L A S or E D staff, decide initial management plan, concurrent medical and M H assessment, early plan for disposition from E D.

Appendix 3: Section 136 Pathway

A workflow diagram of Code 10 for section 136. It starts with the E D team for physical health, P L N notifies A R C of arrival, P L N contacts S p R, and the patient remains in E D. The P L N notifies A R C leads to the patient being transferred to C P o S.

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Quirke, K. (2023). Mental Health Liaison Team. In: Scott, T. (eds) Mental Health: Intervention Skills for the Emergency Services. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-20347-3_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-20347-3_6

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-20346-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-20347-3

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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