Dr. Amir Niazi:

Under the Covid restrictions, our services were not stopped. All our acute units continued to function. All the psychiatry for later life teams continued to function. They had a different way of providing services. We made the best use of technology. Whether it was by telephone, BlueEye or Attend Anywhere, or even Zoom, we tried to maintain contact. Face-to-face contact was limited because of the public health guidance. I have never heard of any services being withdrawn although the way services were provided to nursing homes changed. That is the best evidence I can give.

Regarding our model of care, there is a discussion taking place on allocating resources for those in nursing homes and for liaison services in acute hospitals. More than 70% of beds in acute hospitals are filled with patients over 65 years of age.

That is an area which is highlighted in the model of care in our psychiatry of later life service, and again we are looking at how we can improve that in our ten-year programme.