Background The Consultation Liaison Psychiatry service attends to the mental health needs of patients treated in a general hospital setting after referral by the treating team. Interventions may include psychoeducation and psychological treatment.

A mindfulness focused ‘TV wellness’ channel was conceptualised as an innovative method of providing psychoeducation and mindfulness/relaxation. The objective was to explore the acceptability of a TV wellness channel to nurses and patients in an acute care inpatient setting and its effect on patient anxiety.

Methods This was a before and after prospective feasibility study. The intervention was a 30 min audio–visual television programme containing activities designed to reduce anxiety such as breathing and mindfulness exercises, nature film clips and short videos of clinical staff providing well-being tips during hospitalisation. Adult medical patients were requested to report their state anxiety using the Faces Anxiety Scale (1, low to 5 high anxiety) before and after viewing the channel. Patients and nurses reported on the acceptability of the content.

Results There was a trend to lower state anxiety after patients (n=61) watched the TV wellness channel but this was not clinically significant (mean difference (95 CI) 0.60 (0.36 to 0.87)). The patients and nurses’ evaluations were positive with few areas for improvement.

Conclusion Pilot evaluation of this innovative adjunct to Consultant Liaison Psychiatry provides evidence of its acceptability and potential to reduce anxiety for medical inpatients. This evaluation confirmed the feasibility of the TV wellness channel and has informed continued development and subsequent clinical research.