Who needs an adolescent unit? A referrer satisfaction study

Abstract
Despite the recommendations of the Health Advisory Service report Bridges over Troubled Waters (1986), there has not been any dramatic growth in adolescent psychiatry as a sub-speciality. The HAS report highlighted the largely unmet special needs of this age group, the rising risk for mental illness with increasing age in adolescence, and the need for effective liaison between professional disciplines working with this age group. Nevertheless adolescent services increasingly perceive themselves as under threat from political initiatives and continue to fight their corner (e.g. Wells, 1989).