We surveyed 180 experienced psychiatrists on their training and practice in diagnosing and managing tardive dyskinesia in the current atypical antipsychotic era.

About two-thirds of psychiatrists (n = 124, 69%) responded to the survey. A significant minority had no training in tardive dyskinesia, yet almost everyone recognised the need for formal training in this area. We noted a discrepancy between what respondents believed should be their ideal practice and their reported actual clinical practice. As many as 58% considered that tardive dyskinesia could be a reason for patients to pursue litigation. Many had concerns about prescribing antipsychotics for unlicensed indications, especially for incapacitous patients.

It is important to recognise current practice and gaps in training, not only to enhance training and patient care but also to mitigate against the risk of litigation.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been reported in 90% of chemical warfare victims in previous studies. An individual's traumatic experience(s) may affect the lives of other family members as well. This cross-sectional case–control study compared the prevalence of PTSD symptoms in the husbands, the secondary PTSD symptoms in the wives and also aimed to identify if there was an association between the PTSD symptoms of the couples in the case group. Cases were 150 husband–wife couples where husbands were civilians exposed to chemical warfare; the controls were 156 husband–wife couples where there was no such exposure. Both cases and controls were recruited from Sardasht in Iran; this Kurdish city was attacked by four 250 kg sulphur mustard warheads in June 1987.

Across three sets of cut-off points for the Mississippi Scale for Combat-Related PTSD symptomotology (<120 and ⩾121; <106 and ⩾107; and <65, 65–130 and > 130) wives in the case group demonstrated higher rates of PTSD symptoms than did those in the control group; the difference was statistically significant. Furthermore, husbands in the case group had a significantly higher overall mean score (123.0 (s.d. = 17.2)) than the husbands in the control group (112.3 (s.d. = 21.7); P<0.001, t = 4.80). There was no statistically significant association between the overall PTSD score of the husbands in the case group with that of their wives (P = 0.274, correlation coefficient 0.092).

Husbands who were exposed to the chemical agents reported higher PTSD symptoms and there were higher rates of PTSD symptoms among the wives of individuals who were exposed to chemical warfare. Study results suggest the need for coordinated treatments, policy efforts and interventions to improve the wellbeing of chemical warfare victims and their caregiver wives.

To describe the process for reader feedback on the Royal College of Psychiatrists' online public information leaflets, to report the findings of a retrospective analysis of feedback received over a 14-month period, and to discuss the value of feedback, particularly in relation to the Information Standard quality mark introduced by the Department of Health.

We received 38 700 completed feedback forms during the period under analysis. We derived scores from the feedback forms, which enabled us to identify those that should be prioritised for review. Written comments from readers highlighted specific areas of the leaflets that required further work.

The development of our public mental health information can be guided using feedback from our readers.

Following recommendations made by our 2004–2005 audit, we carried out a re-audit of the local Section 297 protocol in 2007–2008. Our aim was to establish the quality of documented information provided by the police; adherence to the protocol; completion rates of documentation; and rates of notification to the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland, in keeping with the standards set in the Code of Practice of the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003.

We reliably traced 84 POS1 forms completed in accordance with the protocol. The audit identified a rate of 74–89% notification to the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland. By comparison, there is a surprisingly wide variation in notification rates across Scotland. Good-quality information was given by the police, despite receiving no additional training.

This audit highlights a serious lack of information about place-of-safety legislation in Scotland. For patients in the catchment area, the joint protocol and use of standard documentation has significantly standardised patient care. Other health boards and police forces should consider this as they implement legislation.