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A psychiatric service for the homeless mentally ill: the first two years

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Stephen Merson*
Affiliation:
Newcastle General Hospital, Westgate Road, Newcastle upon Tyne NE4 6BE
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Abstract

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The characteristics of 452 patients referred over a two year period to a psychiatric service for the homeless population in inner London are described. The majority of patients were male and Caucasian, and tended to be referred through voluntary sector as opposed to statutory services. Fifty-nine per cent were sleeping rough at the time of first contact, 80% had a previous history of psychiatric treatment, but only 6% were currently in contact with psychiatric services. Serious psychiatric disorders predominated, with 52% suffering from schizophrenia or delusional disorders.

Type
Original Papers
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 © 1996 The Royal College of Psychiatrists

References

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