ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the origins of psychiatric liaison services. It explains the types of service models, and the advantages and disadvantages of different models of provision. Mental health has historically been cast as the poor relation to general medicine in terms of service provision, particularly in the UK. Specialist liaison psychiatry services are accessible to medical staff so that they can request assessment and advice for clients for whom there is a clear clinical need for treatment and support in terms of their mental health. There are two core aspects of education in liaison mental health nursing. These are the educational requirements of liaison mental health nurses themselves and their requirement as educators in relation to patients’ mental health needs. Liaison psychiatrists also have their own competence and training programme in order to gain recognition as specialists in liaison psychiatry.
