{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,9]],"date-time":"2026-07-09T13:50:55Z","timestamp":1783605055812,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":59,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,2,2]],"date-time":"2021-02-02T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1612224000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Psychiatry"],"abstract":"<jats:p><jats:bold>Background:<\/jats:bold> The COVID-19 pandemic led to changes in the way that healthcare was accessed and delivered in the United Kingdom (UK), particularly during the peak of the first lockdown period (the \u201cfirst wave\u201d) beginning in March 2020. In some patients, COVID-19 is associated with acute neuropsychiatric manifestations, and there is suggestion that there may also be longer term neuropsychiatric complications. Despite this, at the time of writing there are only emerging data on the direct effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on psychiatric care.<\/jats:p><jats:p><jats:bold>Methods:<\/jats:bold> In this retrospective study we analyzed referrals to an inpatient liaison psychiatry department of a large acute teaching hospital during the first wave of covid-19 in the UK and compared this data to the same period in 2019.<\/jats:p><jats:p><jats:bold>Results:<\/jats:bold> We saw a 40% reduction in the number of referrals in 2020, with an increase in the proportion of referrals for both psychosis or mania and delirium. Almost one third (28%) of referred patients tested positive for COVID-19 at some point during their admission, with 40% of these presenting with delirium as a consequence of their COVID-19 illness. Save delirium, we did not find evidence for high prevalence of new-onset acute mental illness in COVID-19 positive patients.<\/jats:p><jats:p><jats:bold>Conclusion:<\/jats:bold> Our data indicate decreased clinical activity in our inpatient psychiatry liaison department during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, although a relative increase in relative increase in referrals for psychosis or mania, suggesting less of a relative decrease in more severe cases of mental illness. The reasons for this are likely multifactorial, including structural changes in the NHS and patient reluctance to present to emergency departments (ED) due to infection fears and Government advice. Our data also supports the literature suggesting the high relative prevalence of delirium in COVID-19, and we support integration of psychiatry liaison teams in acute general hospital wards to optimize delirium management. Finally, consideration should be given to adequate staffing of community and crisis mental health teams to safely manage the mental health of people reluctant to visit EDs.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyt.2021.619550","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,2,2]],"date-time":"2021-02-02T07:35:12Z","timestamp":1612251312000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":21,"title":["Reduced Activity in an Inpatient Liaison Psychiatry Service During the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Comparison With 2019 Data and Characterization of the SARS-CoV-2 Positive Cohort"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Matthew","family":"Butler","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Afraa","family":"Delvi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Fedza","family":"Mujic","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sophie","family":"Broad","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lucy","family":"Pauli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Thomas A.","family":"Pollak","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Soraya","family":"Gibbs","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Chun Chiang Sin","family":"Fai Lam","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Marilia A.","family":"Calcia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sotirios","family":"Posporelis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,2,2]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e46","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(20)30463-3","article-title":"Lessons for managing high-consequence infections from first COVID-19 cases in the UK","volume":"395","author":"Moss","year":"2020","journal-title":"Lancet."},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"m1204","DOI":"10.1136\/bmj.m1204","article-title":"Covid-19: UK lockdown is \u201ccrucial\u201d to saving lives, say doctors and scientists","volume":"368","author":"Iacobucci","year":"2020","journal-title":"BMJ."},{"key":"B3","unstructured":"BBC NewsCoronavirus: Boris Johnson to Launch Threat Level Alert System2020"},{"key":"B4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"547","DOI":"10.1016\/S2215-0366(20)30168-1","article-title":"Multidisciplinary research priorities for the COVID-19 pandemic: a call for action for mental health science","volume":"7","author":"Holmes","year":"2020","journal-title":"Lancet Psychiatry"},{"key":"B5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"875","DOI":"10.2139\/ssrn.3601761","article-title":"UK-wide surveillance of neurological and neuropsychiatric complications of COVID-19: the first 153 patients","volume":"7","author":"Varatharaj","year":"2020","journal-title":"Lancet Psychiatry."},{"key":"B6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"3104","DOI":"10.1093\/brain\/awaa240","article-title":"The emerging spectrum of COVID-19 neurology: clinical, radiological and laboratory findings","volume":"143","author":"Paterson","year":"2020","journal-title":"Brain."},{"key":"B7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1007\/s10571-020-00915-1","article-title":"Expression of ACE2 in human neurons supports the neuro-invasive potential of COVID-19 virus","volume":"4","author":"Xu","year":"2020","journal-title":"Cell Mol Neurobiol."},{"key":"B8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"m3871","DOI":"10.1136\/bmj.m3871","article-title":"Neuropsychiatric complications of covid-19","volume":"371","author":"Butler","year":"2020","journal-title":"BMJ."},{"key":"B9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s00415-020-10108-x","article-title":"Immune-mediated neurological syndromes in SARS-CoV-2-infected patients","author":"Guilmot","year":"2020","journal-title":"J Neurol."},{"key":"B10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"811","DOI":"10.1136\/jnnp-2020-323667","article-title":"Defining causality in COVID-19 and neurological disorders","volume":"91","author":"Ellul","year":"2020","journal-title":"J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry."},{"key":"B11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"113254","DOI":"10.1016\/j.psychres.2020.113254","article-title":"Psychotic symptoms in COVID-19 patients. 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