The Glasgow Social Self-Efficacy Scale - A New Scale for Measuring Social Self-Efficacy in People With a Learning Disability: Psychometric Properties and Associations With Social Support and Depressive Symptomology

Objective: to compare GPs' perception of their referral practice to Adult Mental Health services with Clinical Psychology's expectations of their referral practice in a small Clinical Psychology Department in the West of Scotland. Design and Subjects: face-to-face interviews with GPs referring to the Clinical Psychology Department and the Clinical Psychologist in the Department. Results: twelve out of 15 area GPs participated in the study. Three-quarters of GPs over-estimated the waiting list for Clinical Psychology. Five of these nine said they would refer more patients if there was no waiting list for Clinical Psychology. There was a fair degree of concordance between GPs and Clinical Psychology about what should affect GPs' referral practice, although Clinical Psychology rated previous psychiatric history, length of time problem has existed and presence of physical symptoms with no evident physical symptomatology as more important than GPs. Referral to Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology were both mentioned as being indicated by presence or absence of specific variables by GPs, with referral to Community Psychiatric Nursing (CPNs) being mentioned less often. Conclusion: recent liaison with GPs appears to have been more effective in conveying information about appropriate indications for referral than in providing GPs with accurate knowledge about waiting times for Clinical Psychology services. Further attempts to keep GPs updated about waiting times need to consider the potential impact on referral rates. There is some evidence that some GPs' current referral practice differs from Clinical Psychology's expectations of their referral practice. The introduction of explicit referral criteria may help alter this