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Safety and security: a survey of female psychiatric in-patients

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Fiona Barlow  and
Paul Wolfson
Fiona Barlow*
Affiliation:
Leonard Lodge Child and Family Psychiatry Clinic, 3 Lennard Road, Croydon CR0 2UL
Paul Wolfson
Affiliation:
Bexley Hospital, Kent DA5 2BW
*
∗Correspondence
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Abstract

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Fifty-three female in-patients of a psychiatric hospital were interviewed to obtain their views on their own safety and security, and what improvements they would recommend. Most had experienced sexual harassment and a few had been victims of sexual assault. There was a reluctance to report incidents to staff. The majority felt that female-only wards would improve safety. Other recommendations included higher staffing levels, more staff awareness and vigilance, and single rooms with curtains on the doors.

Type
Original Papers
Information
Psychiatric Bulletin , Volume 21 , Issue 5 , May 1997 , pp. 270 - 272
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 © 1997 The Royal College of Psychiatrists

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