Objectives: To investigate effects on one psychiatric inpatient service of a 40% reduction in the number of acute beds and the establishment of an acute day hospital.

Method: A retrospective review of all public admissions to the acute inpatient unit during two three-month study periods; before and almost three years after the changes. Review of attendance at the acute day hospital during the second study period.

Results: The number of admissions actually increased by 3% from 169-174; the mean duration of stay fell from 27-17 days; and the number of brief admissions of three days duration or less almost tripled from 15-43. Although fewer patients suffering from schizophrenia were admitted in the second study period than in the first, their mean duration of stay and the frequency of re-admission within 28 days of discharge changed little, while patients with diagnoses of mild/moderate depression and substance misuse experienced significantly shorter admissions and higher readmission rates. The use of temporary orders under the Mental Treatment Act (1945) doubled, and the readmission rates within 28 days increased by over 60%.

The acute day hospital treated 98 patients who had a diagnostic profile similar to that of the inpatients; 53% of them required admission before and/or after attendance at the day hospital.

Conclusions: The major reduction in the number of acute inpatient beds and the opening of an acute day hospital resulted in greater concentration of inpatient resources on the more severely ill patients. The increase in re-admissions and the failure to effect a reduction in admissions and may have a complex aetiology and merits further investigation.