Article contents
A dedicated district poisons treatment unit: response to the College guidance on the management of deliberate self-harm
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 January 2018
Abstract
Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.
Aims and method
An examination of the activities of a district-wide dedicated admission unit for poisoned patients in Cardiff, Wales, between 1987 and 1997. Number of admission episodes, gender, drugs taken. intent, psychiatric diagnosis and disposal were recorded.
Results
Although the number of admission episodes almost doubled over the 10–year period, the median length of stay fell by almost half.
Clinical implications
The results suggest that a dedicated unit is a cost-effective model for the management of poisoned patients.
- Type
- Original papers
- Information
- Creative Commons
- This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
- Copyright
- Copyright © 1999 The Royal College of Psychiatrists
References
Bialas, M. C., Reid, P. G., Beck, P., et al (1996) Changing patterns of poisoning in a UK health district. Quarterly Journal of Medicine, 89, 893
901.Google Scholar
Hawton, K., Fagg, J., Simkin, S., et al (1994) The epidemiology of attempted suicide in the Oxford area, England (1989–1992). Crisis, 15, 123
135.Google Scholar
Janes, J. M. & Routledge, P. A. (1992) Recent developments in the management of paracetamol (acetaminophen) poisoning. Drug Safety, 7, 170
177.Google Scholar
Jenkins, R., Griffiths, S., Wylie, I., et al (1994) The Prevention of Suicide.
London: HMSO.Google Scholar
Kennedy, P. (1972) Efficacy of a regional poisoning treatment centre in preventing further suicidal behaviour. British Medical Journal iv, 255
257.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McLoone, P. & Crombie, I. K. (1996) Hospitalisation for deliberate self-poisoning in Scotland from 1981 to 1993: trends in rates and types of drugs used. British Journal of Psychiatry, 169, 81
85.Google Scholar
Parker, D., White, J. P., Paton, D., et al (1990) Safety of late acetylcysteine treatment in paracetamol poisoning. Human and Experimental Toxicology, 9, 25
27.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Royal College of Psychiatrists (1983) The College guidance on the management of deliberate self-harm. Bulletin of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, 7, 210
212.Google Scholar
You have
Access
Open access
- 1
- Cited by
eLetters
No eLetters have been published for this article.