In April 1983 I went on a medical tour of China, travelling around the People's Republic in three weeks, with compulsory stops at the Friendship Stores, and flying visits to commune hospitals, clinics, a Chinese Medicine hospital, and a Chinese Medicine factory. The psychiatrists on the tour were interested in visits to the Shanghai Psychiatric Hospital, the Neuropsychiatric Department of the Beijing Capital Hospital and the Hangzhau Railway Workers' Sanitarium.

When Wilson et al (1978) described ‘The new Aberdeen Medical Record,’ they stated: ‘The bulk and disarray of many hospital medical records make it impossible to review and retrieve information easily, hamper the proper care of patients and cause much time to be wasted … when papers accumulate chaotically in the folders much time is wasted in clumsy attempts to retrieve information; important facts about patients and their problems and drug treatment are obscured.’ The same problems apply to the records of psychiatric patients, and this paper describes the adaptation of the Aberdeen Medical Record for use in psychiatric units and hospitals.

Psychiatrists who work with the dying met together with other liaison psychiatrists at St Christopher's Hospice in April 1983 for a small two-day conference. We found it both stimulating and supportive to hear about several specialized aspects of our work.

In the autumn of 1981 the College meeting was held jointly with the Danish Psychiatric Association, many of whose members came to London for a few days. Planning for the recent study tour by College members to Denmark started soon afterwards. By fortunate timing, Dr Tove Aarkrog's article on psychiatry in Denmark was published in the Bulletin (May 1983, 7, 90–91) on the eve of the group's departure.

This paper was produced by a multiprofessional Working Party set up by the College at the request of the DHSS. It has been approved by the parent bodies concerned, including the College's Council, in June 1983.