Evaluating community care
Paul Clifford describes the work of the Society's Centre for Clinical Outcomes, Research and Effectiveness.
BARELY a week goes by without a
highly-publicised incident involving
an ex-psychiatric patient. The
media headlines proclaim yet another
failure of community care and serious
incident inquiries blame inappropriate
discharge from mental hospital, failure to
detect risk and poor co-ordination of services.
The story is so familiar that the
average member of the public could be
forgiven for thinking that mental health
professionals spend the day with their
feet up reading the newspapers, barely
looking up as their patients wander off
into the streets to assault an unfortunate
relative or member of the public.
If the media representation is inaccurate,
what is the reality? Are mental
health services really failing to meet the
needs of some of society’s most vulnerable
individuals? Or are they doing a
valiant job in difficult circumstances?
Unfortunately, no-one really knows.
There is remarkably little information as
to whether patients seen by mental
health services get better, happier,
sadder, madder or badder as a result of
their treatment.
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