Background: Many alcohol-related problems often go undetected and untreated. It poses a major implication on public health. Among hospitalised patients, it was found that the prevalence of alcohol use disorder ranged from 7.4% to 48%, which was greater compared to the general population. Despite the high prevalence of alcohol use disorder, this psychiatric condition often neglected by our medical team and as a result, is undertreated in the restructured hospitals.

Objectives: This quality improvement project aimed to enhance the referral rate of alcoholic patients from the Gastroenterology ward to addiction counselling services

Methods: A baseline measurement revealed that there were total of 25 referrals of alcoholic patients to addiction counsellors from June 2022 to June 2023 prior to the proposed intervention. Plan-Do-Study-Act methodology was employed to bring about improvements and test change interventions.

Results: Through one Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles that targeted in educating the junior doctors on the importance of referral to addiction counsellors in patient with potential alcohol use disorder, there had been substantial improvement of 32% of referral rates from July 2023 to July 2024. (Total 33 cases)

Conclusions: The project was a success overall, with improvements in the referral rates by 32%. The interdepartmental quality improvement project had demonstrated the effectiveness of collaborative efforts in enhancing patient care.

Dr Gabriel Ong Rui Ming is psychiatric doctor who has been working in the field of psychiatry for about 10 years. Currently, he is practicing in Changi General Hospital, Singapore.