INTEGRATION BETWEEN PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SERVICES IN THE CARE OF THESEVERELY MENTALLY-ILL - PATIENTS AND GENERAL-PRACTITIONERS VIEWS

Background Communication between secondary and primary care is an impo rtant aspect of continuity of care. We investigated communication betw een general practitioners (GPs) and psychiatric teams about a represen tative group of patients with severe mental illness (SMI), We also sou ght views on GP involvement in care from the patients and their GPs. M ethods One hundred patients with SMI were randomly selected from those under the care of two psychiatric sector teams in inner London. The p atients and their GPs were interviewed. Results GPs' knowledge about t he care their patients received was limited. Most GPs perceived their role as providing physical care and prescribing. Few patients consulte d GPs for mental health care. GPs perceived themselves as less involve d in the care of Black Caribbean or Black African patients. Conclusion s Considerable discontinuities of care between secondary and primary c are were identified. GP involvement in the care of patients with SMI a ppears limited. Better communication is necessary if care is to be sha red.