Report: Organization and delivery of mental health services
A report provided an outline of the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ position on the separation of mental healthcare between in-patient and community and within the community.
It said that decisions about the best model of service delivery should be based on evidence that the model would deliver better care for patients, and that changes should be piloted and evaluated before wide-scale service redevelopment occurred.
The report said that the principles underpinning any change should be:
- to ensure ease of access by patients to services
- to deliver evidence-based treatment
- to reduce the risk of poor commitment and improve continuity of care
- to ensure that patients were not referred and assessed by different parts of the service before being provided treatment
It discussed the implications for different geographical areas and for the organization and delivery of services, and raised issues relating to continuity of care and the need for specialist and crisis services.
