1, 2 Common psychiatric presentations include self-harm, suicidal ideation, psychosis, and alcohol and substance misuse. 1 The incidence of patients presenting with mental illness is about 5%.
UK emergency departments see about 50 000 new patients each year, with a range of between 30 000 attendances for smaller departments and over 100 000 for the largest. This includes patients with mental as well as physical illness. Hospital emergency departments are involved with the resuscitation, assessment and treatment of patients with acute illness and injury. Despite national recommendations, this survey indicates that many departments lack a sufficiently safe and private assessment room, which compromises the safety and privacy of patient care. Barriers to the establishment of an appropriate facility included it being a low priority for hospital management, a room being used for other purposes, and balancing safety requirements with the creation of a calming environment.Ĭlinical implications Mental illness is a common reason for presentation to emergency departments. Results Of the 60 emergency departments included in the survey, 23% had a psychiatric assessment room that met all the safety criteria and was judged to be safe and private.
Liaison psychiatry services were asked whether their hospital had such a room, whether it met the criteria and whether respondents judged it to be sufficiently safe and private. Aims and method We aimed to estimate the proportion of UK emergency departments with a psychiatric assessment room and to determine whether such rooms met criteria for conducting high-risk assessments.
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