Over the past 20 years, considerable progress was made in understanding the multiple and complex needs of patients with mental disorders and ways to organize comprehensive care. However, organizing care in inpatient, pathology-focused settings, where patients were seen increasingly as consumers of ‘inpatient psychiatric’ services is challenging.

Inspired by modern trends, we are more able to integrate recent developments in psychosocial treatments, broadly defined, into progressive treatment framework within inpatient setting.

Results of an audit of our service (psychosocial treatments) over the previous 5 years will be compared to published results of other services with a range of service delivery methods.

Excerpts from mental health care practice in Moscow based Psychiatric Hospital No 3 named after VA Hilyarovsky – are provided. The pathways of care as well as the basic principles governing the treatment (careful attention to referral sources; optimal patient-treatment matching; and psychosocial, rather than medical supremacy) are outlined. Training and development is central to the effective and efficient working of any staff group. As part of the service developments, a number of inductions (on psychosocial treatments) were provided on regular basis to all staff joining the service.

Though the opportunity for future reform remains on the horizon, some of the strengths and weaknesses of our current health care practice will be presented.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.