NCJ Number
158759
Date Published
1995
Length
27 pages
Annotation
This British bulletin provides information about restricted patients admitted to, detained in, or discharged from psychiatric hospitals between 1984 and 1994 under mental health legislation; it also provides information on unrestricted patients.
Abstract
The population detained in psychiatric hospitals at the end of 1994 was 2,343, higher than in any of the previous 10 years. The number of unsentenced or untried patients transferred from prison increased 11 percent between 1993 and 1994, from 483 to 535; after sentence the number decreased 12 percent, from 284 to 249. For the first time there are more restricted patients held in "other hospitals" than in the three "special hospitals." In 1993 more than 85 percent of unsentenced or untried patients transferred from prison to hospital did not return to prison and were subsequently placed in hospitals or the community. Half of the unsentenced or untried patients awaiting a return to prison, trial, or sentencing had spent under 3 months in the hospital before returning to prison or to court for trial or sentence. Of the other legal categories, 34 percent of the "special hospital" population had spent 11 years or more in the hospital in contrast to 21 percent of those in "other hospitals." Fourteen percent of the "special hospital" population had spent under 2 years in a hospital in contrast to those in "other hospitals." 8 figures and 13 tables