Crisis beds: the interface between the hospital and the community.

The main role of the crisis unit at a state psychiatric hospital was found to be the provision of brief hospitalisation for patients with adjustment disorders and personality disorders. The four bed crisis unit treated 14% of all patients admitted to the hospital, with an average length of stay less than three days. A study of 78 crisis unit patients found that 77% were able to be discharged directly to the community, and only 18% were readmitted during the following six months.