ArticleThe European journal of psychiatry
Psychiatric liaison service referral patterns during the UK COVID-19 pandemic: An observational study.
Article in The European journal of psychiatry. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.
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Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed.
- Profiles of inpatient psychiatry referrals: a 4-year analysis in a Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry service.BMC psychiatry · 2026Observational
- Utilisation of mental health services before, during, and after COVID-19 restrictions: interrupted time-series analysis in England.BMC health services research · 2026Article
- Impact of Remote Appointments on the Outcomes of Community Mental Health Nurses in Primary Care Since the Covid Pandemic: A Retrospective Observational Cohort Study.International journal of mental health nursing · 2025Observational
- Health and social care use, costs, and satisfaction among key workers accessing Resilience Hub support during the COVID-19 pandemic.BMC health services research · 2025Article
- Enhancing Emergency Room Mental Health Crisis Response: A Systematic Review of Integrated Models.Cureus · 2024Review
- The effects of COVID-19 on European healthcare provision for working-age adults with major depressive disorder.European psychiatry : the journal of the Association of European Psychiatrists · 2023Review
- Short-stay crisis units for mental health patients on crisis care pathways: systematic review and meta-analysis.BJPsych open · 2022Review
- Acute psychiatric care: approaches to increasing the range of services and improving access and quality of care.World psychiatry : official journal of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA) · 2022Article
- Liaison Psychiatry During the Peak of the Coronavirus Pandemic: A Description of Referrals and Interventions.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
objectivesCOVID-19 has had a profound effect on mental health. Liaison psychiatry teams assess and treat people in mental health crises in emergency departments (EDs) and on hospital wards. During the first pandemic wave, new Mental Health Crisis Assessment Services (MHCAS) were created to divert people away from EDs. Our objective was to describe patterns in referrals to psychiatric liaison services across the North Central London care sector (NCL) and explore the impact of a new MHCAS.
methodsRetrospective study using routinely collected data (ED and ward referrals) from five liaison psychiatry services across NCL (total population 1.5 million people). We described referrals (per week and month) by individual liaison services and cross-sector, and patterns of activity (January 1st 2020 -September 31st 2020, weeks 1-39) compared with the same period in 2019. We calculated changes in the proportion of ED attendees (all-cause) referred to liaison psychiatry.
resultsFrom 2019-2020, total referrals decreased by 16.5% (12,265 to 10,247), a 16.4% decrease in ED referrals (9528 to 7965) and 16.6% decrease in ward referrals (2737 to 2282). There was a marked decrease in referrals during the first pandemic wave (March/April 2020), which increased after lockdown ended. The proportion of ED attendees referred to liaison psychiatry services increased compared to 2019.
conclusionsPeople in mental health crisis continued to seek help via ED/MHCAS and a higher proportion of people attending ED were referred to liaison psychiatry services just after the first pandemic wave. MHCAS absorbed some sector ED activity during the pandemic.
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