178 BULLETIN OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF PSYCHIATRISTS, VOL 10, JULY 1986 Liaison Psychiatry PAULBARCZAK,SeniorRegistrar in Psychiatry, The General Hospital, Birmingham ' You ask me what it is I do. Well actually, you know, I'm partly a liaison man and partly PRO. Essentially I integrate the current export drive And basically I'm viable from ten o'clock till five. ' Executive John Betjeman A liaison is a union or effective conjunction with another Adolph Meyer, a contemporary of Smuts, introduced the unit or force. A liaison officeris seen as one who forms links principles of a holistic approach to the training of under or integrates such units or forces. This is a simple definition graduate medical students at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. obtained from a standard dictionary but a further attempt Meyer used the term 'psycho-biology' to mean the study of at defining what is meant by liaison psychiatry is not so man as a person in health and disease. His multi-factorial easy. This problem of definition and the lack of uniformity approach refuting a mind-body dualism has had a lasting in such services in different settings may partly result in the effect on the practice of psychiatry in Britain. marked under-utilisation of psychiatric expertise in dealing Lipowski acknowledges psychosomatic medicine's debt with the large number of medical patients who have a to the holistic movement and attempts a tripart definition: psychiatric disorder regardless of the presence or absence of 'Psychosomatic medicine is a scientificdiscipline concerned a physical illness.' with the study of the relationships of biological, psychologi As will be shown later, the overlapping of a number of cal and social determinants of health and disease. It is a set historical trends in medicine resulted in the evolution of of postulates and guidelines embodying a holistic approach liaison or consultation liaison psychiatry. Psychosomatic to the practice of medicine and it encompasses consultation medicine was much influenced by the holistic movement liaison psychiatry.' and favoured an approach to the patient as a whole taking The origins of psychosomatic medicine can be found in into account psychological, biological and social factors. early Greek writings of the fifth century BC.4 A major Of significance also was the move from the practice of work by Tuke5 brought together its basic principles. psychiatry in remote asylums to the general hospital. From the 1920s onwards two distinct developments were Liaison psychiatry therefore can be seen as the interface to occur, having both lasting beneficial and adverse between psychiatric and non-psychiatric medicine as effects. Alexander6, a practicising psychoanalyst, proposed practised in a general hospital setting. that certain illnesses such as asthma, ulcerative colitis, It is helpful to trace briefly the development of these rheumatoid arthritis, essential hypertension, peptic ulcer, trends in medicine. A lack of precision in using these terms neurodermatitis and thyrotoxicosis, could be caused by makes an attempt at definition an important starting place. unconscious conflict. Lack of a sound causal model and the Psychosomatic medicine can be seen as one type of holistic failure to develop appropriate therapies cast a shadow on medicine. The word holistic is derived from the Greek the whole field of psychosomatic medicine and no doubt 'holos' meaning whole and was first used by Smuts.2 Used contributed to one description of it as an improbable initially in a metaphysical sense to mean that a whole is hybrid of clinical thinking, physiological speculation and always more than the sum of its parts with personality seen psychoanalytical theory.7 as the highest evolved structure in the universe incorporat A seemingly more promising development was a psycho- ing mind and body, it later came to be regarded as the study physiological approach relying on the work of Cannon & of the human organism as a whole. Lipowski3 stated that Wolffand concerning itself with the physiological pathways holistic referred to 'an approach to the study of man in through which conscious conflict and emotion could pro health and illness and to health-care that focuses on the voke or exacerbate many more physical illnesses. Although person as a whole, that is to say a mind-body complex this was based on a more solid body of scientificresearch, the embedded in a social field.The holistic approach calls for an methodological problems and difficulties of making the integrated use of data, concepts and techniques derived jump from physiological to pathological changes are still from biological, psychological and social modes of abstrac unresolved. tion, to explain human behaviour and to study and treat all Although the first psychiatric ward attached to a general deviations from health in individuals'. hospital was at Guy's Hospital in 1728for the treatment of BULLETIN OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF PSYCHIATRISTS, VOL 10, JULY 1986 179 'lunatics', the development of general hospital psychiatry vagueness of the term 'liaison psychiatry' and the lack of has occurred in this country mainly in the last 20 years. clear guidelines to physician colleagues of what is on offer. Much of the literature therefore on liaison psychiatry comes We propose that the main components of liaison from the United States where the first unit was opened in psychiatry be listed separately to avoid this problem. 1902 at the Albany Hospital.8 Lipowski9 describes the (1) Ward consultation service. At the request of the recent rapid increase in the number of such units through physician or surgeon a psychiatrist assesses the patient and out the United States. Henry10 published a paper entitled either gives advice or takes over the management of the 'Some Modern Aspects of Psychiatry in General Hospital patient's psychiatric treatment. There are two parts to this Practice' which laid the foundation stones of liaison service: psychiatry by incorporating the developments in psycho (a) deliberate self-harm (DSH) assessment; (b) non-DSH somatic medicine with an holistic approach to illness in assessment. a general hospital setting. Flanders Dunbar in 1934 at (2) Accident and emergency department consultation service. Columbia University Medical Centre first used the term As in (1) above, the psychiatrist assesses the patient and 'psychiatric liaison'. Despite growth in this area in America, either givesadvice or takes over complete management. This Britain has lagged behind with little published work, and again can be divided into DSH and non-DSH assessment. to date there are only six or seven consultants in full (3) Psychiatric out-patient services. Straightforward out time liaison work in this country (Mayou, R. personal patient clinics situated in the general hospital. communications). (4) Joint psychiatric/medical out-patient service. Here To return to the problem of definition referred to in the psychiatrists would meet doctors of other disciplines and opening paragraph. What exactly is consultation/liaison discuss patients or familiesjoint interest. psychiatry? Lipowski defines it as 'that area of clinic (5) Staff consultation service. Dealing with staff groups psychiatry that encompasses clinical teaching and research or individual staff problems. This service may be centred activities of psychiatrists and allied mental health pro on individual wards in functional groups of wards or in fessionals in the non-psychiatric division of a general special units (such as renal dialysis, intensive care or hospital'. He further distinguishes between the several coronary care). functions implicit in the term. Consultation is seen as the (6) Co-ordinating service. An overall co-ordinating role in more limited role of providing an opinion and advice on the linking up various mental health care professionals for the management of a patient at the request of a non-psychiatric better psychiatric, psychological and social management of specialist. A liaison to him meant a psychiatrist eliciting patients in general hospitals. sources of conflict between the patient and the health (7) Research service. A research function assisted by a team and, by interpreting what was happening, acting as a broad-based knowledge of both biological and behavioural mediator between the two, thus allowing for better care. sciences. The liaison psychiatrist is also seen as mediating between psychiatrists and non-psychiatrists. This definition fails to encompass the many activities of Conclusions the psychiatrist in a general hospital. There is no doubt Having been criticised for lacking a coherent theoretical of the association between physical and psychiatric illness framework consisting of a mishmash of biological, behav in general practice in both medical and psychiatric out ioural concepts, the absence of clear functions and lack of patients and in-patients. For example, Maguire" showed organisation, liaison psychiatry as a movement could be that 23% of medical admissions excluding those presenting said to lack direction. However, with more and more of the with deliberate self harm could be regarded as having a work of the general psychiatrist being handled by primary significant psychiatric disorder. He also showed that 34% health care teams, social services and vcluntary agencies, of psychiatric in-patients had current physical illness this field of medical practice could become increasingly and that in half such cases it had not been previously important in the future and provide a valuable role for the diagnosed.12 Shepherd13 found an even higher figure in psychiatrist left wondering what is left for him to do. A clear those attending medical out-patients with 38% having statement of the areas in which a psychiatrist could make a contribution as outlined above should assist in research psychiatric disorder but no significant physical illness. developments and ensure that 'psychiatry in the general Although the number of psychiatric referrals has more than doubled over the last 20 years14 this is accounted for hospital is here to stay.'15 by the increase in acts of deliberate self-harm and few patients admitted for other reasons are referred.