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Long-term medication in depot clinics and patients' rights: an issue for assertive outreach

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Nigel Eastwood
Affiliation:
Norfolk Mental Health Care, NHS Trust, Hellesdon Hospital, Drayton High Road, Norwich NR6 5BE
Robert Pugh*
Affiliation:
Norfolk Mental Health Care, NHS Trust, Hellesdon Hospital, Drayton High Road, Norwich NR6 5BE
*
Correspondence
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Abstract

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This study investigated the knowledge and attitude of 100 patients about their depot neuroleptic medication. Patients were well informed about their medication, particularly those seen in depot clinics. Most patients were content with service delivery but 48% did not realise that they had a choice about receiving their treatment. This aspect of patients' rights should be addressed and demands sensitive management in the case of depot refusers, or when assertive outreach is planned. We suggest that such issues should be incorporated into an educational programme and discussed with patients when they are relatively well.

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 © 1997 The Royal College of Psychiatrists

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