Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-l7hp2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T21:09:38.180Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Community organisations' expectations of mental health statutory services

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 June 2014

Dinesh Bhugra
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, England
Janet La Grenade
Affiliation:
University of West Indies, Kingston, Jamaica

Abstract

Objective: Community organisations provide care for psychiatric patients at multiple levels. With increasing emphasis on joint planning and purchasing of care it is important to ascertain the views of such organisations towards statutory organisations and services the latter provide.

Method: All community organisations working within one inner city catchment area in London were approached in order to obtain their views and experiences on the mental health services provided by the secondary care services. This was a postal survey and non-responders were contacted by personal calls.

Results: Sixty organisations out of a total of 100 in the database responded. More than half had experiences of statutory services and these were generally negative. The services provided were perceived as being rigid and inflexible. A large majority of the organisations wished services to be more flexible as well as provide more training for voluntary organisations.

Conclusion: The survey suggests that the perceptions of the statutory services and co-working with voluntary organisations can succeed only if the two groups work together closely to make good quality community care possible.

Type
Brief Reports
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1997

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1.Westall, G. Voluntary self-help groups. In: Bhugra, D and Leff, J, eds. Principles of Social Psychiatry. Oxford: Blackwell's, 1993: 568–72.Google Scholar
2.Griffiths, R. Community Care: Agenda for Action. London: HMSO, 1988.Google Scholar
3.Bhugra, D, Bridges, K, Thomson, C. Caring for a Community. London: Gaskell, 1995.Google Scholar
4.AN, Oppenheim. Questionnaire design and attitude measurement. London: Basic Books, 1966.Google Scholar
5.Bhugra, D. Attitudes towards mental illness: a review of the literature. Acta Psychiatr Scand 1989; 80: 112.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
6.Bhugra, D. Setting up services for ethnic minorities. In: Weller, M and Muijen, M eds. Dimensions of Community Mental Health Care. London: Saunders, 1993: 116–34.Google Scholar