Acute inpatient mental health care remains an irreplaceable part of some people’s mental health recovery pathway, either through the severity of their difficulties or the associated risks. ...
MoreAcute inpatient mental health care remains an irreplaceable part of some people’s mental health recovery pathway, either through the severity of their difficulties or the associated risks. It can often be a traumatic experience associated with distress and vulnerability both for patients and their relatives. Modern acute inpatient psychiatric care must undoubtedly be truly multidisciplinary and part of a wider community-based system. It must emphasize dignity, compassion, and well-being as well as addressing challenges such as involuntary admissions, cultural diversity, physical comorbidities, and the needs of relatives, just to name a few. The present textbook focuses on these and related issues in a way that is relevant to frontline clinicians dealing with them daily, with medical, nursing, and legal aspects going hand in hand with topics such as team leadership or multidisciplinary work. The textbook describes inpatient services as provided in England, so it describes work that takes place within a national health service free at the point of delivery, carried out by universal primary care as well as secondary mental health care services, both operating within clinical governance structures that seek quality improvement and accountability. Crucially, both the Mental Health Act and the Mental Capacity Act provide unique legal frameworks for the care of mental ill health. The editors hope that for readers in the UK and beyond, the textbook will provide a real-life system which can be questioned and problematized and, in that way, may help to orient clinical work.
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