Abstract
Out-of-area (OOA) placements occur when patients cannot be admitted to local facilities, which can be extremely stressful for patients and families. Thus, the Department of Health aims to eliminate the need for OOA admissions. Using data from a UK mental health trust we developed a ‘virtual mental health ward’ to evaluate the potential impact of referral rates and length of stay (LOS) on OOA rates. The results indicated OOA rates were equally sensitive to LOS and referral rate. This suggests that investment in community services that reduce both LOS and referral rates are required to meaningfully reduce OOA admission rates.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 615-616 |
| Number of pages | 2 |
| Journal | The British journal of psychiatry |
| Volume | 213 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| Early online date | 28 Jun 2018 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Oct 2018 |
Bibliographical note
© The Royal College of Psychiatrists 2018. This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self-archiving policy. Further copying may not be permitted; contact the publisher for details.Keywords
- Discrete event simulation.
- Length of stay
- Out-of-area admissions
- Referral rate