Go Retire Psychiatrist

A few days ago, I read a news article announcing that a liaison psychiatrist was appointed to Wexford General Hospital, which is located in Ireland. It has around 280 beds. I didn’t see the name of the liaison psychiatrist who will be the lone ranger psychiatric consultant there. That person has my deepest respect as well as my sympathies.

There’s a Wexford Facebook page with a few incredulous comments about the futility of hiring only one such doctor for the job. They think one psychiatrist is not enough to meet the mental health needs of the patients and to be a consultant to the medical staff.

This sounds painfully familiar and I wince even after six years of retirement from my consultation-liaison post in an 800-bed hospital.

I ran across one of my blog posts “Testament to Testiness on Liaison Psychiatry” from almost 3 years ago that also rings a bell about what it means to be a lone ranger general hospital psychiatric consultant. The idea for the post came from an article called “The Liaison Psychiatrist as Busybody.”

I wish the new liaison psychiatrist at Wexford General Hospital in Ireland the best of luck.