Schizophrenia is a debilitating, often chronic, psychotic disorder with early onset and a lifetime prevalence of 7.2/1,000. The longer the period without treatment, the worse the outcome. In the UK, the mean duration of untreated psychosis is one to two years. The new NICE guidelines for schizophrenia recommend that all patients who are distressed and have a decline in social functioning accompanied by psychotic symptoms or behaviour suggesting psychosis should be comprehensively assessed by a specialist mental health service.