Guidelines and evaluation: improving the quality of consultation-liaison psychiatry.

Previous research has shown that residents in the consultation-liaison unit of Geneva University Hospital did not meet proposed guidelines on three counts: quickness of response to emergency situations, reporting cases to supervisors, and consulting with supervisors on major issues. The introduction of daily meetings between residents and supervisors improved the level of compliance with guidelines, from 69.2% to 82.6% for quickness of response, from 57.6% to 97.3% for reporting cases to supervisors, and from 25.0% to 98.0% for consulting with supervisors on major issues. Periodical evaluation would thus appear to enhance performance.