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Autopsy services for old age psychiatrists in England and Wales: A survey of consumer satisfaction
Author(s) -
Benbow Emyr W.,
Benbow Susan M.,
Reid Helen
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
international journal of geriatric psychiatry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.28
H-Index - 129
eISSN - 1099-1166
pISSN - 0885-6230
DOI - 10.1002/gps.930090106
Subject(s) - neuropathology , quarter (canadian coin) , autopsy , complaint , medicine , psychiatry , family medicine , medical services , gerontology , psychology , disease , pathology , health care , law , history , archaeology , political science
Anecdotal evidence suggests that some old age psychiatrists are dissatisfied and disillusioned with their local autopsy services, and so we carried out a postal survey to assess the extent of the problem. Our most striking finding was that over a quarter of old age psychiatrists are, indeed, dissatisfied with the way other organ systems were examined. This dissatisfaction is very strongly associated with services where autopsies on psychogeriatric patients are carried out by general histopathologists, especially where there is no established facility for the brain to be preserved and subsequently examined by a neuropathologist. The main complaint about neuropathologists was that reports sometimes took an unacceptable length of time to be returned to the clinician. The solution to the difficulties experienced by old age psychiatrists would be a closer association with their local neuropathology services, but whether neuropathologists are in a position to increase their workloads remains to be determined.