Developing mental health services in a primary care setting: Liverpool Primary Care Mental Health Project

The Liverpool Primary Care Mental Health Project (PCMHP) was set up in 1996 to provide mental health services in a primary care setting. This study describes and evaluates an impact of a working model of a multi-disciplinary team in close association with five Liverpool practices. The data were collected on all patients who came in contact with the PCMHP team during a three-year period and compared with the data available for the five neighboring teams on waiting time between referral and assessment, clinical outcome, in-patient bed usage, GPs' and patients' satisfaction with services. The number of new referrals remained the same over three years. The usage of inpatient beds dropped by 38% in the same period. Waiting time between referral and assessment for new patients reduced from six weeks to one-two weeks. GP's were highly satisfied with access to CMH Nurses, overall communication with the team and overall delivery of the services. Over 80% of patients were satisfied with the services. Integrated mental health services with primary care proved to be effective and satisfactory to GPs as well as to patients. This approach did not increase the workload of the mental health team.

No psychiatry? Assessment of family medicine residents' training in mental health issues

OBJECTIVE

To assess whether the mental health component of the family medicine residency program at Memorial University of Newfoundland, which contains no formal mental health training with psychiatrists, adequately prepares residents for practice, and to assess which aspects of their training enhanced their mental health skills most.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional mailed survey.

SETTING

A 2-year family practice residency program with a focus on training for rural practice offering integrated and eclectic multidisciplinary mental health training rather than formal psychiatry experience.

PARTICIPANTS

Graduates of the family practice residency program, 1990 to 1995. Completed questionnaires were returned by 62 of 116 physicians.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE

Confidence of respondents in dealing with 23 mental health problems.

RESULTS

Respondents felt prepared to address most of the mental health needs of their patients. Higher levels of confidence were associated with lower referral rates. There was no significant relationship between time spent in practice and confidence in dealing with mental health problems. Graduates' confidence correlated with areas in the program identified as strong.

CONCLUSIONS

The program appears to train family doctors effectively to meet the mental health needs of their patients.

Intracranial neurological injuries associated with orbital fracture

We attempted to define the central nervous system (CNS) concomitants of various types of orbital fractures in children by reviewing the records of 95 inpatients with admission diagnoses including orbital fracture who presented to the Children's National Medical Center from 1987 through 1994. Patients were divided into three age groups: group I: 0-5 years; group II: 6-12 years; group III: older than 12 years. Orbital fractures were classified by location: roof alone (A); orbital roof plus another orbital wall (B), and orbital fractures sparing the roof (C). Mechanisms of injury included falls (F), motor vehicle accidents (M), and blunt injuries (S). Admission Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), neurosurgical intervention, nature of associated intracranial injury, and presence of residual neurologic deficit were recorded. Group I included 38 patients, while groups II and III included 28 and 29, respectively. There were 61 boys and 34 girls. Most fractures confined to the roof occurred in group I patients (12 of 16 fractures; 75%). Twenty-four of the 38 group I patients (63%) sustained orbital fractures involving the roof compared to 12 (43%) and 6 (21%) in groups II and III, respectively. Children with orbital fractures involving the roof and another orbital wall, regardless of age, had lower admission GCS. Over half of type B fracture patients (19/26) were involved in motor vehicle accidents. Intracranial injuries were identified in 26 of the 73 patients (36%) whose CT included the brain. Fifteen of 26 patients (58%) with intracranial injuries sustained fractures involving the orbital roof, but only 3 of these had a type A fracture. Seven of the patients with intracranial injury required emergent neurosurgical procedures. Younger children with maxillofacial injury sparing the orbital roof appear more likely to have coexisting intracranial injury, as reflected by CT findings and GCS on admission, than their older cohorts with similar injuries. Fracture of more than one orbital wall greatly increases risk of concurrent intracranial injury in all age groups.

Public health and economics in tandem: programme budgeting, marginal analysis and priority setting in practice

In the wake of the reforms of the UK National Health Service there has been increased interest in 'getting it right' with respect to priority setting in health care. This article examines the way in which programme budgeting and marginal analysis (PBMA) were introduced into North Mersey. It provides a very practical introduction to the topic and indicates the actual processes that were gone through. It is suggested that, in terms of getting participants in the PBMA exercise to think through what programmes comprise, what they cost, what they are trying to achieve and to focus on relevant possible changes, there was considerable merit in the approach. However there are problems, particularly at the level of determining the costs of different programmes.

Lack of changes in histomorphometric, bone mass, and biochemical parameters in ovariohysterectomized dogs

A predictable animal model with skeletal remodeling characteristics similar to those of humans is needed to facilitate the understanding of the mechanism of postmenopausal osteoporosis. We have utilized the ovariohysterectomized (Ovh) dog to examine cellular and biochemical responses to estrogen depletion and PTH stimulation. Histomorphometric measurements of bone biopsies taken prior to (first biopsy) and five months after the operation (second biopsy) showed no significant differences in static and dynamic parameters. Bone mineral density of the excised vertebrae displayed the same values between the two groups six months after surgery. Between the second biopsy and sacrifice, two infusion studies were performed. A two-hour infusion of EDTA followed by a two-hour recovery period elicited a rapid response in PTH production, highly correlated to the changes in ionized calcium, but no significant difference in response was observed between Sham and Ovh groups. A short-term (24-h) infusion of 1-34 hPTH increased circulating ionized calcium and 1,25-(OH)2-D levels to a similar extent in both groups. The levels of alkaline phosphatase were constant and both groups showed a small but nonsignificant increase in osteocalcin. The lack of sizable responses in histomorphometric, bone mass, and biochemical parameters may limit the utility of dogs for the study of cancellous bone loss in ovarian-dysfunction osteoporosis.