The NHS, the private sector, and the virtual asylum

doi:10.1136/bmj.325.7375.1300/b

BMJ 2002;325:1300 ( 30 November )

Letters

The NHS, the private sector, and the virtual asylum

Editorial was destructive

Misconceptions are naive

No lessons have been learnt

Authors' reply

Editorial was destructive

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR $---$ We were surprised by the tone of and the stigmatising language and strong opinions without cited evidence in the editorialby Poole et al on the NHS, the private sector, and the virtualasylum.¹ The article sets out many undisputed facts such asthe decline of the county asylums and the current inadequate provisionof mental health beds under the NHS. No evidence is, however,cited to support the description of difficult to manage patientsin the independent sector, poorly staffed small units, or thelack of activity or rehabilitation forpatients.

What evidence there is does not support any of these claims. ² ³ Paradoxically, the acknowledgement that larger independentfacilities may give a higher quality of care than the NHS is alsoleft unsupported. Further criticisms are made of NHS servicesand planning, again withoutevidence.

No mention is made at all of the rapid regionalisation of independent . . . [Full text of this article]

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The NHS, the private sector, and the virtual asylum: Rob Poole, Tony Ryan, and Alison Pearsall
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