To describe the change in the number of referrals of prisoners and the delay in transfer to hospital under the Mental Health Act following a change in the prison health care provision. The transfer time (time from referral to transfer to psychiatric hospital) of prisoners has been audited previously over 1996 and 1997.

There has been an increase in the number of prisoners transferred. Both transfers under Section 48 of the Mental Health Act and the proportion of transfers to high security have increased. The average delay in transfer remains lengthy and there is a trend of increasing delay with increasing level of placement security.

Despite Government policies to facilitate the transfer of mentally disordered offenders, we found an increase in the delay to hospital compared with previous audits.

To investigate the transfer of information regarding prescribed medication between primary and secondary care sectors. Patients aged 18–65 years, ready for discharge from hospital, were invited to participate. Prescribed medication was recorded from their hospital and general practitioner records. The significance of discrepancies identified between medication lists was assessed independently by four judges.

Discrepancies occurred for 39 out of 43 patients at each stage of medication information transfer. Discrepancies at the time of admission and following discharge occurred in 69% and 43%, respectively, of drugs studied. It was judged that harm would occur to the patient, should the discrepancy be reproduced, in 24% and 18%, respectively, of cases.

IMPLICATIONS Discrepancies in the transfer of information regarding prescribed medication may result in harm to patients.

A postal questionnaire was sent to specialist registrars (SpRs) in the Wessex Region to evaluate senior trainees' reactions to information about the proposed changes in mental health legislation and to ascertain if the information had adversely affected their view of their future careers as consultants.

A high level of concern about the proposed changes and their potential impact on consultants was revealed. A majority of SpRs took a more negative view of their future career, especially those preparing a single Certificate of Completion of Specialist Training in general adult psychiatry, who were more likely to have adverse perceptions and to have thought of opting out.

The legislative proposals have the potential for considerable impact on recruitment and retention of psychiatrists.

To use a questionnaire to assess and compare what referred children and their referrers would like from a multi-disciplinary post-abuse service based in Bridgend, South Wales.

It was found that the children and their referrers wanted different types of support and help from the service. Specifically, children wanted to be ‘listened to’ on an individual basis and to talk about the effect of their distressing experiences on their lives, but they did not want to talk about the details of the abuse and did not want to be blamed. Referrers wanted more practical help for the children.

The study highlights the need to listen to what the child wants from a post-abuse service rather than assuming that this is already known by the referrer or the therapist. It will also help referrers to think clearly about reasons for referral.

To evaluate the first 2 years of a new adolescent unit.

One-hundred and eighteen cases were admitted, with a broad range of diagnoses. Median length of stay was 33 days and 82% of admissions were urgent, of which 70% were admitted on the day of referral. A later study of 27 consecutive cases showed a mean improvement of 25% in the Children's Global Assessment Scale and 40% in the Child and Adolescent version of the Health of the Nation Outcome Scales scores.

It is possible to provide an in-patient service for adolescents that includes all-hours emergency access, as well as catering for the full range of severe mental illness and a wide variation in length of stay.