Psychiatric wards in general hospitals - the opinions of psychiatrists employed there

Objectives: The world literature is reporting economic destabilisation of psychiatric wards in general hospitals related to the new rules of financing (managed care). The aim of this paper is to analyse the literature on psychiatric wards in general hospitals, and to know the opinions of psychiatrists employed in these wards in Poland regarding organisational model and the stability of these wards.

Methods: The 18-items Likert-type questionnaire was send to 83 psychiatric wards in Poland and published on the website psychiatria.pl.

Results: 50 psychiatrists from psychiatric wards in general hospitals in 11 provinces had responded. The prevailing number of respondents positively assessed: the organisational model of the ward, implications for therapy arising from its location in the general hospital and the relationships with colleges of other specialties. However, they assessed negatively: the working conditions, stability of employment, the mode of treating the psychiatrists by the management of the hospital, and the interest of the authorities in these wards. The majority of respondents (72%) prefer to work in integrated stationary/ambulatory services, and postulates (86% of respondents) that the psychiatric wards in general hospitals should be guaranteed permanent status in the mental health system.

Conclusions: The psychiatrists employed in the psychiatric wards in general hospitals in Poland evaluate this organisational model positively. However, the destabilisation of economic foundations of these wards reported in the world literature was also reflected in the results of a survey conducted in Poland. There is a need to develop standards for the organisation and financing departments of psychiatry in general hospitals providing them stable status in the healthcare system in Poland.