There are no clear guidelines for the optimal organisation of psychiatry placements for medical undergraduates. Moreover, the UK needs to enrol more psychiatry trainees. This service evaluation aimed to show that an efficient psychiatry placement can improve attitudes of students towards psychiatry and increase their likelihood to choose psychiatry.

We evaluated the efficacy of a new strategy for the psychiatry placement of 24 fourth-year medical students from the University of East Anglia during the academic year 2021/2022. The strategy consisted of having a 4-week placement in one of 3 wards at the Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust Woodlands Unit (PICU, acute male and female wards) with brief (one- to two-day) rotations across the wards, as well as the community team and individual areas of interest. This afforded students exposure to different settings, pathologies and levels of severity, with enough time in one service to allow integration into the team, participation in clinical and therapeutic activities and most important, observation of patient longitudinal improvement. Multidisciplinary teams were included by presenting the training as a win-win, and we relied on a good teaching culture at our Trust. We also offered a programmed induction day, a mid-placement meeting and an end-of-placement debrief. We evaluated the efficacy of the strategy using the Attitude Towards Psychiatry Questionnaire before and after the placement, as well as measuring overall satisfaction.

The overall satisfaction score on a 5 point Likert scale was very good (M = 4.58; SD = 0.58). Mean ATP total score significantly improved from 116.50 (SD 9.49) to 133.00 (SD 8.68) over a maximum attainable score of 150 (F(1;23) = 69.70, p < .001, ηp2= .75), with 23 out of the 30 items having significantly improved individually as well. The reliability of the scale was high with a Cronbach's alpha of .81 before and .84 after the psychiatry placement. The question “I would like to be a psychiatrist” improved significantly from 2.54 to 3.25 on the 5 point Likert scale (F(1, 23) = 16.33, p < .001, ηp2= .42) with an increase in students answering “agree” or “strongly agree” from 16.7% to 45.8%. This improvement was significantly positively correlated with the overall satisfaction score (R = .528, p < .01).

Psychiatry placement for medical undergraduates is a valuable opportunity to improve their attitudes towards psychiatry and their likelihood of choosing psychiatry as a specialty. We present our strategy as a model toward these goals.

Two police liaison and section 136 schemes were developed alongside police services at different sites within the same NHS trust. In one, a mental health nurse worked with frontline police attending incidents related to mental health. The other involved nurses providing advice from the police control room. Section 136 detentions were measured over two 6-month periods (6 months apart) before and after practice change. Data analysed included total numbers of section 136 assessments, outcomes following subsequent assessment, and relevant diagnostic and demographic factors. Association of any change in section 136 total numbers and proportion subsequently admitted was investigated in both sites.

The model involving a nurse alongside frontline police showed significant reduction in section 136 numbers (38%, P <0.01) as well as greater admission rates (P = 0.01). The scheme involving support within the police control room did not show any change in section 136 detention but showed a non-significant (P = 0.16) decrease in subsequent admission.

Mental health nurses working alongside frontline police officers can help improve section 136 numbers and outcomes.

To assess the impact of a changed ward environment upon levels of inpatient arousal and aggression on a National Health Service psychiatric intensive care unit.

A retrospective service evaluation comparing seclusion episodes, duration of close observation, recorded aggressive incidents and data from the Nursing Observed Illness Intensity Scale (NOIIS) on a psychiatric intensive care unit for two three-month periods either side of a move from an old, temporary building to a new, purpose-built ward. The ward environments were also objectively assessed and compared using the Environment Assessment Inventory (EAI).

A statistically significant reduction in episodes of seclusion, total seclusion hours and aggressive incidents, as well as a reduction in levels of agitation from the NOIIS data on the new ward compared to the old ward. The EAI scores showed important qualitative improvements on the new ward.

This study supports the hypothesis that the physical environment of a psychiatric intensive care unit has a significant impact on levels of arousal and aggression. Established measures of ward environment should be applied to the development and improvement of psychiatric wards.