When one door closes…

Author:
McMILLIAN Ian A.
Journal article citation:
Learning Disability Today, 10(1), January 2010, pp.22-23.
Publisher:
Pavilion
Place of publication:
Hove

The article contains an interview with Shaun Gravestock, a full-time consultant psychiatrist at the newly opened Mental Health and Learning Disabilities at the Bethlem Royal Hospital in Beckenham, Kent. This unit caters specifically for people with learning disabilities who need intensive mental health care. It contains 13 beds, 9 funded by local primary care trusts and 4 available to commissioners around the UK. Gravestock argues that mainstream acute mental health units are not the best places for potentially vulnerable people with learning disabilities, as staff may find it difficult to establish rapport, the atmosphere can be volatile, and staff are under pressure to quickly move patients through the system. The Bethlem unit aims to fill this gap for a specialist service for those with learning disabilities and mental health problems.

Subject terms:
hospitals, learning disabilities, mental health care, mental health problems;
Content type:
practice example
Location(s):
England
Link:
Journal home page
ISSN print:
1752-007X

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