Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-g8jcs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T08:35:28.935Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Over-occupancy in London's acute psychiatric units – fact or fiction?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Bernard Audini ,
Richard Duffett ,
Paul Lelliott ,
Alison Pearce  and
Catherine Ayres
Bernard Audini
Affiliation:
Royal College of Psychiatrists Research Unit, 11 Grosvenor Crescent, London SW1X 7EE
Richard Duffett
Affiliation:
Royal College of Psychiatrists Research Unit, 11 Grosvenor Crescent, London SW1X 7EE
Paul Lelliott
Affiliation:
Royal College of Psychiatrists Research Unit, 11 Grosvenor Crescent, London SW1X 7EE
Alison Pearce
Affiliation:
Royal College of Psychiatrists Research Unit, 11 Grosvenor Crescent, London SW1X 7EE
Catherine Ayres
Affiliation:
Royal College of Psychiatrists Research Unit, 11 Grosvenor Crescent, London SW1X 7EE
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.
Aims and method

Inner London psychiatric services face particular pressures. One measure of this is over-occupancy of acute psychiatric beds. Seven census-based surveys were conducted between June 1994 and January 1999 to quantify and monitor problems of inner London acute psychiatric bed provision. The censuses involved 14 inner London mental health services with a combined catchment population of approximately three million. Measures included levels (and changes over time) of occupancy, detention under the Mental Health Act, prolonged hospital stays and ward violence.

Results

‘Minimum’ occupancy levels for the combined services were above 100% at all census points. Occupancy level fell from 122% to 112% between the first and seventh census. This was associated with an increase in bed numbers of 2.5 per 100000. Levels of detention were consistently at around 50% and violent incidents were high at all census points.

Conclusions

Current provision of acute beds remains insufficient to meet service demand. To meet the 85% ward occupancy level recommended by the Royal College of Psychiatrists a further 14 beds or community alternatives per 100000 population would be required.

Type
Original Papers
Information
Psychiatric Bulletin , Volume 23 , Issue 10: The Journal of Trends in Psychiatric Practice , October 1999 , pp. 590 - 594
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © 1999 The Royal College of Psychiatrists

References

Coid, J. (1994) Failure in community care: psychiatry's dilemma. British Medical Journal 306, 805 806.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hughes, J. (1995) Independent Panel of Inquiry into the Circumstances Surrounding the Deaths of Ellen and Alan Boland . Report to the City of Westminster, the Kensington, Chelsea and Westminster Health Authorities and the North West London Mental Health NHS Trust London: North West London Mental Health NHS Trust.Google Scholar
Jarman, B. (1983) Identification of under privileged areas. British Medical Journal 286, 1705 1709.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnson, S., Ramsay, R., Thornicroft, G., et al (1998) London's Mental Health. London: King's Fund.Google Scholar
Johnson, S. & Lelliott, P. (1998) Mental health services in London: evidence from research and routine data. In London's Mental Health (eds Johnson, S., Ramsay, R., Thornicroft, G., et al), pp. 167 192. London: King's Fund.Google Scholar
Lelliott, P. & Wing, J. (1994) A national audit of new long-stay patients. II. Impact on services. British Journal of Psychiatry, 165, 170 179.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Milmis Project Group (1995) Monitoring inner London mental illness services. Psychiatric Bulletin, 19, 276 280.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ritchie, J., Dick, D. & Lingham, R. (1994) The Report of the Enquiry into the Care and Treatment of Christopher Clunis. London: HMSO.Google Scholar
Shepherd, G., Beadsmoore, A., Moore, C., et al (1997) Relation between bed use, social deprivation, and overall bed availability in acute adult psychiatric units, and alternative residential options: a cross-sectional survey, one day census data, and staff interviews. British Medical Journal, 314, 262 266.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tyrer, P., Evans, K., Gandhi, N., et al (1998) Randomised controlled trial of two models of care for discharged psychiatric patients. British Medical Journal 316, 106 109.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Working Party of the Section for Social and Community Psychiatry of the Royal College of Psychiatrists (1988) Psychiatric Beds and Resources: Factors Influencing Bed Use and Service Planning. London: Gaskell.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.