Numbers down at Psychiatric Hospital

An improved community nursing programme has been cited as the reason for the lowest numbers of patients at the Psychiatric Hospital for a generation.

The average number of registered patients at the hospital is 500, the lowest in the last 30 to 40 years, said acting hospital director David Leacock. The figure for some years was over 600.

Leacock said the hospital has a strategic plan to reduce the internal population to about 300.

Speaking shortly after the hospital’s luncheon and awards ceremony for retirees and long-serving members, he said the community nursing programme could be credited for the decline.

“We hope that as we continue to put the things in place from a community standpoint we will continue to see the changes that we are looking for. The last two years had the addition of community psychiatrists and have seen a fall-off in patient readmissions.”

Concerning family members and the society accepting patients back into the communities, Leacock said there had been some change. (LK)