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The Observation Ward and the Psychiatric Emergency

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

R. P. Snaith  and
S. Jacobson
R. P. Snaith
Affiliation:
St. Francis Hospital
S. Jacobson
Affiliation:
St. Francis Hospital, Haywards Heath
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Extract

In 1937 an excellent investigation, by Pentreath and Dax, of the work of a London observation ward appeared in the Journal of Mental Science. In the course of their conclusions, they pointed out that: “observation wards are still in their infancy so far as their developmental possibilities are concerned—in fact, we are still in the process of deciding what their purpose should be.” In the ferment of ideas that culminated in the Mental Health Act of 1959, and the fresh insights into administrative psychiatry which have followed, the future function of such units seems to have received little attention. Freeman and Farndale's book Trends in the Mental Health Services (1963) does not introduce the concept of the psychiatric emergency, nor does it consider any special provision for these patients.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 111 , Issue 470 , January 1965 , pp. 18 - 26
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1965 

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References

Benady, D. R., and Denham, J. (1963). Brit. med. J., 1569.Google Scholar
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