ABSTRACT
This chapter shows that the balance by addressing the issues and providing evidence of empirical study comparing programmes available in the private and public sectors in the United Kingdom, in the area of medium security. It explains the growth of private psychiatric health care both in the United Kingdom and the United States and second, an investigation by way of the most current literature available, into the main issues and concerns which have been voiced in relation to this move. Private health care and more specifically private mental health care in the United Kingdom and abroad is not a new idea. Although the American health care system is dominated by the private sector, one exception to this has been mental health care. Most patients admitted to private secure psychiatric care are detained under the terms of the Mental Health Act 1983 and are not there of their own volition.
