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Hot beds of general psychiatry

A national survey of psychiatric intensive care units

Heath Clinic, Bracton Centre, Bexley Hospital, Old Bexley Lane, Bexley, Kent DA5 2BW

Carol Paton, Principal Pharmacist

Oxleas NHS Trust

Stephen Pereira, Senior Registrar

Heath Clinic, Bracton Centre

^* Correspondence

Little is known of the facilities available nationally to treat the most disturbed patients. A postal survey sent to all pharmacists in the UK known to have a special interest in psychiatry identified 110 psychiatric intensive care units. They varied in size from four to 30 beds, with the small units having low and the larger units very high occupancy levels. Many units accepted a mixture of informal patients directly from the community, detained patients and referrals from the prison service. Medical cover was variable, multidisciplinary team-working poor, and the existence of written policies unsatisfactory. Staff often felt undervalued with little control over admissions and discharges. There is currently no national or local support network for these units.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				L. Bowers, D. Jeffery, H. Bilgin, M. Jarrett, A. Simpson, and J. Jones Psychiatric intensive care units: a literature review. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, January 1, 2008; 54(1): 56 - 68. [Abstract] [PDF]