Mental handicap and the new long stay

M J Dickinson,I Singh

doi:10.1192/pb.15.6.334

Abstract

For almost 20 years planning for the mentally ill and mentally handicapped has focused on a shift of care from hospital to community, the advantages and difficulties of this process generating much discussion and interest. The hospital population of the mentally handicapped is currently at the forefront of this change, planning impetus now being propelled by alterations in funding with budgets being transferred from NHS to local and social services. One consequence is the closure, or planned closure, of large mental handicap hospitals situated at the periphery of urban centres, with residents being moved to small group homes and hostels within the towns and cities the hospitals once served. The change should prove beneficial for a majority of residents although the process continues to generate debate.

Highlights

Community care is probably not as cheap an option as was initially believed
A diagnosis of psychosis was given if criteria A and C for schizophrenia were present, or if the disorder was of a delusional, schizophreniform, or schizoaffective type
The sex ratios were similar with 25 male and 22 female controls and 31 male and 26 female new long stay (NLS)

Summary

Introduction

Community care is probably not as cheap an option as was initially believed. Glennerster (1990) calculat ing the costs following closure of Darenth Park, found both NHS hostels and group homes more expensive to run than comparative hospital care. In spite of planned closure, admissions continue to arrive at the hospitals, often staying for prolonged periods of time. In view of the important bearing these admissions have for future planning, we designed a study to try to discover their recent extent, to examine if among these a new long-stay group could be identified, and if so, what factors which might help predict this outcome.

Results

Conclusion