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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
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Abstract

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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

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