Previous audit of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) standards has identified deficiencies in service provision. Little national information was available on ECT services in Scotland. Survey questionnaires were sent to all consultants in charge of ECT clinics in Scotland. There was a 100% response rate. The service provision varied across Scotland, and in some cases fell below Royal College of Psychiatrists' recommendations. There now exists a base of information on services available and an ongoing national audit system should be considered. Several recommendations have been made for the future of ECT services in Scotland and these have been distributed to consultants in charge of clinics.

In 1860 the Illustrated London News published an engraving of a male ward in Bethlem Hospital, in which two slightly wary looking whippets or small greyhounds are wandering among the patients, while one of them keeps a watchful eye on a smug cat seated beside the chair of a chess player. At intervals along the walls are birdcages and goldfish bowls, all with their appropriate occupants. Another engraving shows a female ward, where similar cages and bowls can be seen hanging between the windows, though the free-range livestock is absent. Each room is also furnished with a huge aviary reaching from floor to ceiling.

Clinical supervision of counselling and psychotherapeutic work performed in a district general adult psychiatric service is examined. Most staff received regular supervision, usually having more than one source of supervision. Paired peer supervision, within a discipline, was the commonest structure. Supervision was mainly focused in two areas, on interventions made by the therapist, and examining the therapeutic relationship. Most staff had confidence in their supervision, but those who had not discussed a supervision contract were significantly less likely to be satisfied with their supervision.

Although electromuscular incapacitation devices (Tasers or ‘stun guns') have been in use for over a decade, concern about potential health effects has not been resolved. Moreover, public policy decisions have expanded the availability of Tasers and require wide consultation with the health sector as well as other stakeholders. In the past 5 years sales of Tasers have grown considerably, with numbers of US law enforcement agencies using the devices growing from 1700 in 2001 to 8700 in 2005 (US Department of Justice, personal communication). Jenkinson et al (2006) recently argued, as have the UK Police Federation, that Tasers should be issued to all front line British police, a move that would see a considerable proliferation of Tasers in the UK. A current trial in four districts may pave the way for Tasers to be used nationwide in New Zealand (New Zealand Police, 2006). These developments make it imperative that health professionals monitor the physical and mental health implications of Tasers, and ensure health considerations are part of the public policy debate on their deployment. In this paper we review the existing literature on the use of Tasers, and note that the psychological effects of Taser use have not been investigated.

The diagnosis of generalised anxiety disorder is a distraction of no value. It is highly unreliable, co-occurring with many other disorders of firmer diagnostic status, and has intrinsic connections to personality dysfunction. It is argued that classification would be heartily relieved to rid itself of this unnecessary appendage and for the symptom of anxiety to remain as a descriptive term only.

Myanmar, until recently known as Burma, is a developing nation in south-east Asia. Burmese kings and emperors ruled this land until 1885, when it fell into the hands of the British. It gained its independence in 1948. Burma has a mainly agricultural economy and has a rich fertile soil. At one stage in the post-war history Myanmar was renowned as ‘the rice bowl of the world’. It is blessed with abundant natural resources such as teak and precious stones. Myanmar covers a land area twice that of the British Isles with a population of around 42 million.

The MacLean Committee was established in 1999 by the Scottish Office to review and make recommendations concerning the sentencing of serious violent and sexual offenders, including those with personality disorder. It provides an alternative perspective on the problem of offenders with personality disorder to that of the Home Office and Department of Health (1999) for England and Wales.

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is an essential treatment for severe mental illnesses such as depression with suicidality and catatonia. However, its availability is being threatened by resource limitations and infection concerns due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This may necessitate the triage of patients for ECT but there is no established ethical framework to prioritise patients. We offer an application of an ethical framework for use of scare medical resources in the ECT setting.

In 1997 there were 57 000 notifiable crimes of serious or sexual violence recorded by police in England and Wales (Home Office, 1998) – more than 1000 per week or approximately one every 10 minutes. On 15 February 1999 the Home Secretary, Jack Straw, announced new measures “better to protect the public from dangerous people in our society” (House of Commons, 1999). He said the measures were to target “those who are capable of committing acts of a serious sexual or violent nature”. Of the 57 000 potential targets, Mr Straw believes 1800 men are already detained in prisons and special hospitals; he intends to identify a further 500 or so men currently at liberty and lock them away indefinitely, in advance of their offending. His intention in respect of the other 54 700 violent or sexual offenders, responsible for 99% of serious violence, is not stated. Mr Straw believes that the 500 men in the community (and the 1800 in custody) share a common psychiatric condition and that this is what makes them dangerous. His policy for identifying the men, and what he intends to do with them and similar people, is contained in the recently published consultation paper on dangerous people with severe personality disorder (Home Office & Department of Health, 1999).

This report describes the use of the needs for care assessment (NFCA) in measuring symptom and social function in patients with long-term mental Illness. The schedule recommends specific care interventions and these were implemented where appropriate. The problem status of the patients was reassessed using the needs for care schedule after the interventions had been offered and tried. The recommended care items were within the compass of our rehabilitation service, were rarely refused by the patients and there was an improvement in symptom and social function. These findings provide some validation for the concept of unmet need.

The legal and moral status of the concept of consent are examined. The notion of informed consent as the sole basis for acceptable treatment is found to raise moral difficulties and to have potentially damaging side-effects on the relationship between doctors and patients. It is argued that developing trust between doctor and patient is crucial to obtaining valid consent.

The second European Trainees Forum (van Beinum, 1992) met in the Netherlands in March 1993. Training issues were discussed by delegates from the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Germany, Belgium, Finland, Portugal, and Switzerland. A number of training topics were specifically addressed by the Forum, and a statement unanimously agreed on each of these.