Shortcuts: Mental health services worsening, say psychiatrists

Conditions for inpatient care for people with a mental illness have either remained static or deteriorated over the past four years, according to 60 per cent of psychiatrists who took part in a survey by mental health charity Sane.Forty-two per cent said there had been no change or a deterioration in community care over the past 15 years.Only 37 per cent said they thought care had improved.Marjorie Wallace, Sane's chief executive, said: 'Over the past five weeks I have been visiting psychiatric units and services in the community.Almost everyone I've talked to was shocked at how depressing conditions have become in many acute wards, which are overcrowded, dilapidated, rife with street drugs and aggression.'