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A cross-sectional evaluation of a community-orientated mental health service

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Jon Spear ,
Andrew Cole  and
Jan Scott
Jon Spear
Affiliation:
St Nicholas Hospital, Gosforth, Newcastle upon Tyne NE3 3XT
Andrew Cole
Affiliation:
The Grange, Grange Avenue, Benton, Newcastle upon Tyne NE12 9PN
Jan Scott*
Affiliation:
University Department of Psychiatry, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 4LP
*
∗Correspondence
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Abstract

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Community mental health services have been criticised for seeing those with minor psychiatric disorders at the expense of those with severe and long-term illness. We report a cross-sectional evaluation of a UK service based entirely within the community. Most patients in contact with the service (66%) had a psychotic disorder or an affective disorder. Patients with greater impairment were likely to receive more intensive treatment. Only 20% of the community psychiatric nurse (CPN) case load focused on acute distress and neurotic disorders. Within this service careful operational planning and maintaining CPNs within the secondary care system appear to be critical factors in achieving the goal of giving priority to the severely mentally ill.

Type
Audit
Information
Psychiatric Bulletin , Volume 19 , Issue 3 , March 1995 , pp. 151 - 154
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 © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1994

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