Are Observation Wards Obsolete?

Abstract

A sociological study of hospital-treated psychiatric disorder, designed to discover what social groups make use of a particular service, and for what reasons, adds another dimension to the understanding of clinician and administrator. Such a study must also reflect the changes in mental hospital practice which have followed the Mental Health Acts of 1959 and (Scotland) 1960, and the effect of these changes on individual attitudes towards in-patient care. The recent opening in Edinburgh of a completely new psychiatric admission hospital provided appropriate stimulus and setting for the present inquiry.