Rehabilitation of psychiatric patients who stayed in hospital more than one year

Abstract

Synopsis Fewer than one half (238) of a cohort of 489 psychiatric patients who had stayed in hospital more than one year (longstay) were still in hospital three years later. One third of these ‘old’ longstay patients (170) were discharged and resettled – and 81 elderly patients died. During the same three years 1971–3 a further 108 patients became (new) longstay; 57 remained at the end of the study. The discharged patients were neither readmitted unduly often, nor did they become destitute.