The acute inpatient ward is regarded as a key component of mental health care in the UK. Recently there has been more focus towards community based treatments leading to a decrease in the numbers of available beds and closing down of in-patient wards. the acute care model of service delivery was implemented in East Cheshire, United Kingdom as a way of delivering modern mental health services in line with the national programme “New Ways of Working”.

The main objective of this study was to look at several key indicators such as the average length of stay, total number of admissions and discharges, total number of incidents and the number of re-admissions.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a new service model in older peoples in-patient services.

The authors looked at both qualitative and quantitative measures comparing the objectives one year before and after inception of the acute care approach.

Our study shows that the average length of stay of patients has reduced by approximately 7 days with the acute care approach. There was no significant change in the total number of admissions and discharges. There was a significant reduction the total number of incidents across all categories. Results from the qualitative survey are being evaluated currently.

The results will inform and improve further development of in-patient psychiatric services for older adults.