About this toolkit

Dr Andrew Watson, Consultant Psychiatrist, AMD for REAS, NHS Lothian.

Email PA to Dr Andrew Watson: Pamela.Trichardt@nhs.scot

The first review will take place in February 2027 after the NHS Lothian REAS Drugs & Therapeutics Committee review. Thereafter, the resources and toolkit will be reviewed every 2 years.

The content of this toolkit has been clinically reviewed and approved by the NHS Lothian REAS Drugs & Therapeutics Committee. The Catatonia bundle and guideline will be formally reviewed in September of 2026 by the authors, and then taken for further approval by the DTC. Should there be an indication to update this resource prior to the planned date, this may be initiated by one of the authors.

Copyright © NHS Lothian. NHS Lothian has kindly granted limited permission for its use by other organisations. Limitations are:

• No amendments permitted
• NHS Lothian is acknowledged

Where external sources are cited, they have been linked to within the toolkit.

All icons are sourced from Flaticon.com [https://www.flaticon.com/ ], accessed through the licence held by Tactuum Ltd as software provider of the RDS platform.

Risks have been mitigated by providing links to guidelines support information in this toolkit.

Guidance within the toolkit that references medicines has been signed off by NHS Lothian REAS Drugs & Therapeutics Committee.

The content in the toolkit has been derived from the extensive recent BAP 2023 Catatonia Consensus Guideline.

Authors:

• Dr Ewan Mahoney, ST4 in General Adult Psychiatry.
• Dr Cormac Maguire, ST5 in General Adult Psychiatry.
• Dr Andrew Watson, Consultant Psychiatrist, AMD for REAS, NHS Lothian. Email: Pamela.Trichardt@nhs.scot
• Dr Kevin Brown, Psychiatry Consultant in Child & Adolescent Mental Health Services.

Feedback and/or complaints can be sent to Dr Andrew Watson.

Email PA to Dr Andrew Watson: Pamela.Trichardt@nhs.scot

User testing was conducted in December 2025 to assure usability, navigation, readability and appropriate formatting. The feedback provided was positive and the suggested changes have been made to the toolkit.

An accessibility check of the toolkit was done in January 2026 using the RDS standard operating procedure. The accessibility of the RDS platform technology is confirmed in the RDS accessibility statement at the bottom of every website page.

This toolkit should be used in the broader context of the literature available, including the BAP 2023 Catatonia Consensus Guideline, and should not be used in isolation. Each patient's presentation and needs are different, but we hope this resource will help identify unmet needs and improve care.

This toolkit should be used by qualified health and social care staff and should not be used by members of the public as a substitute for professional advice.