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Individual patient—doctor contact in a mental hospital

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

David Pitcher  and
Howard Sergeant
David Pitcher
Affiliation:
Friern Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, Royal Free Hospital, London
Howard Sergeant*
Affiliation:
Friern Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, Royal Free Hospital, London
*
1Address for correspondence: Dr Howard Sergeant, Friern Hospital, London N11 3BP.
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Synopsis

Patients admitted to Friern Hospital in 1972 stayed on average for about 5 weeks and spent a total of less than 2 hours individually with senior and junior doctors. Long-stay patients (1 year or more) saw their doctors for an average of less than 1 hour a year. These findings, which in the case of junior doctors were corroborated in 1974, refer only to the time doctors spent with patients alone. The admission, and long-stay discharge rates were greater in the Islington than in the Camden division, and probably reflect differences in clinical practice. It is argued that more psychiatrists are needed – precisely how many will depend on studies of the relative efficiency of different services and training programmes, and on agreement among psychiatrists about minimum professional standards.

Type
Research Article
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 8 , Issue 4 , November 1978 , pp. 705 - 710
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1978

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