Consultation Liaison Psychiatry

Service areas:

• EMOPD
• ESOPD
• ATC
• APC

Wards

• To attend to all calls from medical, surgical and allied inpatient units of the Institute within a reasonable time of the receipt of the call

Electro-convulsive therapy: three days in a week (Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays)
PGI Crisis Helpline:

• Senior resident posted in the Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry (from 8.00 AM to 5.00 PM from Monday to Friday and 8.00 AM to 1.30 PM on Saturday) and the Emergency on-call duty (from 5.00 PM to 8.00 AM on Monday to Friday and from 1.30 PM on Saturday to Monday morning 8.00 AM) will be the contact person for the helpline. During the daytime, Consultant in-charge of the CL Psychiatry on that day and for the evening the consultant on emergency duty will be personally supervising the helpline services.
• All the calls will be received by the Senior Resident of the Department of Psychiatry on the designated helpline number.
• Senior resident will listen empathically to the caller; explore and assess (while being online) the nature and urgency of crisis; in case of emergency hold the caller on the line while continuously talking and explaining about the need to come to the hospital; take the ID information, location information, etc.
• Depending on the need, the Senior Resident of Psychiatry either may be able to handle the case on the telephone itself; or in most cases advise the person in crisis to reach the Emergency medical/surgical OPD of PGIMER in 15-30 minutes.
• Depending on the need, the Senior Resident of the Department of Psychiatry will inform the concerned Head of the Department, the SMO posted in the Emergency OPD, and the Senior Resident of MHA on duty. The parent Department to which the Resident belongs/posted will be responsible for arranging the logistics including the security and ambulance to help the caller to reach the Emergency OPD as soon as possible with the help of the Senior Resident of MHA on duty.
• The parent Department to which the Resident belongs/posted along with the Senior Resident of MHA on duty will liaise with the treating physician/surgeon and the psychiatrist to get the needy person admitted in the appropriate ward and for arranging the medical, surgical care in Emergency OPD/ ward of the case as per the requirement.
• A suitable room with quietness and privacy will be arranged in the Emergency OPD area of Nehru Hospital for treatment and assessment.
• Temporary admission/hospital stay will be arranged in the designated area/ward by the hospital administration.
• The Senior Resident of the Department of Psychiatry will be responsible for doing a complete psychiatric evaluation and treatment, both psychological and pharmacological; preparing the desired medical records for treatment and administrative purposes under the supervision of Consultant in charge
• The Senior Resident of the Department of Psychiatry will also maintain a Register documenting the details of all the phone calls received and advice given. All the phone calls also must be informed to the faculty member on duty.
• The Helpline service will be provided by the existing teams of Consultation-Liaison service and Emergency duties, as per roster of the Department of Psychiatry, involving the Senior Resident and Faculty members on a daily rotation basis (24×7).
• However, if the person in crisis is already registered in the psychiatry outpatient and is under the care of a consultant, he/she will be informed and will be responsible for supervising the clinical care provided by the Senior Resident of the Department of Psychiatry.
• The Senior Resident of the Department of Psychiatry will inform the on duty faculty member of the Department of Psychiatry, who in turn will notify the HOD of Department of Psychiatry, the HOD/ Administrative in charge of the caller/patient and the hostel warden ( if applicable).
• The HOD/ Administrative in-charge of the person in crisis will provide the cost of treatment and the material support needed to take care of the person until his family members arrive.
• The HOD of the concerned Department will inform the Dean/Sub-Dean of the Institute who in turn will notify the family of the patient and depending on the need may have to advise them to come to PGI.