Psychiatric Bulletin (2009) 33: 172-175. doi: 10.1192/pb.bp.107.019190
© 2009 The Royal College of Psychiatrists
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Multidisciplinary activities in a community mental health service: relationship to Health of the Nation Outcome Scale scores and diagnosis

David Meagher, Consultant Psychiatrist

*Health Systems Research Centre, University of Limerick, Limerick, and St Anne’s Day Hospital, Limerick, email: David.Meagher{at}ul.ie

Sinead O’Brien, Specialist Registrar in Psychiatry, Ananth Pullela, Consultant Psychiatrist and Anthony Oshun, Registrar in Psychiatry

St Anne’s Day Hospital, Limerick

Pat Brosnan, Director of Mental Health Services

Mental Health Directorate, St Joseph’s Hospital, Limerick, Ireland

Declaration of interest

D.M. is in receipt of an unrestricted educational grant from AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals.

AIMS AND METHOD

Multidisciplinary activities of community mental health teams in Ireland are understudied. We explored symptom profile and multidisciplinary team contacts in a complete sector population (n = 504).

RESULTS

The frequency of attendance was greater in individuals with severe mental illness (P<0.001) and correlated with total Health of the Nation Outcome Scale (HoNOS) scores (P<0.001) and with the subscales for social disability (P<0.001) and symptoms (P<0.01). Sixty-two per cent of individuals were receiving shared care and were more likely to have severe mental illness (P<0.001) and higher total HoNOS scores (P<0.001). Frequency of attendance correlated with total HoNOS scores and subscale scores for social impairment and symptoms.

CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS

Frequency of service attendance and activities of multidisciplinary team members vary with symptom profile of service attenders but are focused towards individuals with more severe illness and greater problems identified by the HoNOS.