The British Journal of Psychiatry 159: 500-504 (1991)
© 1991 The Royal College of Psychiatrists
Douglas House. Seven years' experience of a community hostel ward
FJ Creighton, CE Hyde and B Farragher
Tameside General Hospital, Ashton-Under-Lyne, Lancashire.
Of 24 residents of a ten-bed, community-based hostel ward suffering chronic
psychiatric illness, nine have been resettled in the community, with four
more expected to follow them. Five residents have made Douglas House their
home but another six have manifested behavioural disturbance necessitating
return to hospital wards. We found community discharge to be associated
with illnesses having good prognostic features, while organic illness
militated against such placement. Indicators of a prior history of
behavioural disturbance seem to predict difficulties in managing a patient
in this environment.
