Access to Services

Medical Practitioners in CUH;
Selected Senior Nursing, Social work, Occupational Therapy, Speech and Language Therapy, Physiotherapy staff employed by CUH;
Multi-disciplinary members of Adult Mental Health Teams.
Referrals are not accepted directly from Primary Care.

Referrals from Inpatient Wards:

Non urgent referrals are sent to the Service using the Liaison Psychiatry Consultation electronic referral system available on all CUH network PCs. Written referrals are not generally accepted.
Urgent referrals are accepted only following a verbal discussion (phone or in person) between the referrer and the Liaison team member. All referrals Out-of-Hours ie on-call are considered urgent and are accepted only following a verbal discussion between the referrer and the On-Call Psychiatry Doctor.

Referrals from the Emergency Department:

All referrals by ED staff are considered urgent and are accepted only following a verbal discussion between the referrer and the Liaison team member. ED referrals following self-harm are also proactively sought on a daily basis by Crisis Self-Harm nursing staff in the ED.

Referrals of Outpatients who are actively attending CUH services:

Inpatient referrals - The team member appropriate to the referral source (i.e. general, emergency department, drugs and alcohol, perinatal, psycho-oncology), carries out an initial assessment of need, liaises with the referrer and other relevant parties and instigates initial management as necessary. Complex inpatient referrals and referrals where there is an urgent or risk concern will usually require assessment by more than one team member.
Emergency Department referrals - ED referrals (including CDU referrals) are assessed on the same day. Following verbal referral, the team member who receives the referral will clarify when s/he will attend the ED to assess the patient and discuss any management issues in the interim.
Outpatient referrals - All outpatient referrals are discussed at a weekly Multi Disciplinary Team meeting. Additional information may be required and in such cases a nominated team member will contact the referrer. For some referrals, a recommendation may be made to the referrer in relation to a more appropriate service to meet the identified needs of the patient. Other referrals deemed appropriate for initial assessment by a team member will be sent an outpatient appointment by post and/or telephone contact where appropriate.