(Management of deliberate self-poisoning in adults in four teaching hospitals: descriptive study)
In a four week study of four teaching hospitals, 458 patients attended for deliberate self-poisoning. In a study in this week's BMJ, Kapur et al report their concerns about the striking variations in treatment that these patients received.
The authors found that despite the guidelines issued by the Department of Health, almost half of the patients studied did not receive a specialist psychosocial assessment. They suggest that such cases have a low medical and psychiatric priority amongst hospital staff - a reduced number of beds means that medical staff are reluctant to admit patients who are judged to be a low physical risk and are often seen as difficult and unrewarding.
Kapur et al argue that the current situation should not be allowed to continue as self-poisoning represents a major social and clinical problem.
Contact:
Dr Navneet Kapur, Lecturer, Department Psychiatry, Manchester Royal Infirmary