Attitude of general practitioners towards psychiatric consultation in primary care clinic

Fifty general practitioners (GPs) were surveyed about their attitudes towards psychiatric liaison-consultation services. The questionnaire differentiated among GPs' attitudes towards the liason-consultation model and towards the various possible roles of the psychiatrist who visits the GP's practice. These attitudes were analyzed in relation to the level of post-graduate training of the GPs, and to their psychological sensitivity as measured by the PMI scale. GPs with specialist registration certificates in family medicine were more interested in working together with psychiatrists and rated themselves as more sensitive to psychological issues. The largest group (39%) among the GPs thought that the main task of the visiting psychiatrist is to advise them on psycho-social issues, while leaving clinical responsibility in their hands. Less frequent responses included: diagnosis and treatment within the primary care clinic (17%), facilitating referrals (15%), and update teaching of psychiatry (12%). The predominant attitude was consistent with the finding that 96% of the GPs thought that they had good abilities at recognizing patients in distress, and 92% rated their doctor-patient relationship skills as high.