Objective: To assess patient satisfaction with psychiatric case management service provided at a tertiary psychiatric hospital in Singapore. Method: A prospective study, using the Client Satisfaction Questionnaire (CSQ), on 100 patients who had received case management during their stay in the hospital. Results: The primary findings of the study revealed that 87% of the patients rated the service as good to excellent with the same percentage responding that overall, in the general sense, they were satisfied with the service received from the case managers. Also, 95% would recommend the programme to a friend who required similar help although only 74% responded that most or almost all of their needs were met. Conclusion: This study enabled case managers to understand their patients’ needs and satisfaction with the service. They have used this information to improve and enhance their service delivery.

Objective: Psychiatric case management was introduced in inpatient general psychiatry wards in a tertiary psychiatric hospital in late 2003. A brokerage model of case management is used espousing advocacy with case managers acting in their patient’s best interest to encourage and facilitate use of appropriate psychiatric care and reduce fragmentation and costs. Data on patients’ case managed in 2004 and 2005 was analysed to determine the effectiveness of the service in terms of clinical outcomes and service linkages provided. Methods: Psychiatric case managers maintained databases on the patients referred to them. There were 231 patients in 2004 and 375 patients in 2005. Analyses were performed by using SPSS 13.0 with statistical significance set at P <0.05. Descriptive statistics was used and differences between the 2 cohorts in outcome measures were assessed using Chi-square or Fisher’s Exact test. Results: The service developed with a 62.3% increase in the number of cases accepted for case management in the second year. There was improvement in clinical outcomes, such as reductions in unplanned re-admissions within 28 days from 4.8% in the first year to 2.1% in the second year. A reduction in suicide attempts and forensic complications was also found. There were significant reductions in re-hospitalisation in 2004, from 28.1% to just 6.9% after case management was provided (p<0.001). Conclusion: The brokerage model of case management used in this setting was effective in reducing re-hospitalisation, unplanned readmissions, suicide attempts and forensic complications for psychiatric patients