Ms Bernie McNally:

One of the case studies here highlighted the importance of the hospital engaging community services and alerting such services. If the hospital cannot say much to the family, it should at least ensure there is some support in the community, with a public health nurse or community psychiatric nurse calling out to see how things are going or offer support. After a few weeks there may be a greater willingness to share so those support services are important. There have been unfortunate episodes where the hospital forgot to send a referral letter, etc., so such issues are critical.