Psychiatric Bulletin (2009) 33: 132-134. doi: 10.1192/pb.bp.108.020255
© 2009 The Royal College of Psychiatrists
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Continuity of care coordination, health needs and social deprivation

John F. Heffernan, Specialty Registrar

Kingswood Community Mental Health Team, Cossham Hospital, Lodge Road, Kingswood, Bristol BS15 1LF, email: john.heffernan{at}nhs.net

Mariwan Husni, Consultant Psychiatrist

Northwick Park Hospital, Harrow

Declaration of interest

None.

AIMS AND METHOD

Continuity of care is an important aspect of service provision. We retrospectively examined the number of changes over a 2-year period in care coordinator for new patients on enhanced care in a London borough. Deprivation score, length of hospital stay, and health and social needs were examined for association with continuity of care.

RESULTS

Twenty-six patients met the inclusion criteria; ten patients (39%) had a change in care coordinator. Patients having one or more changes in care coordinator were found to live in significantly more deprived council wards (P=0.004), but their needs score (P=0.863) or length of hospital stay (P=0.368) were not significantly different than in those who did not have changes in care coordinator.

CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS

Social deprivation affects relational continuity of care in community teams but the mechanism requires evaluation.