ABSTRACT
This chapter shows that the characteristics of patients admitted to Stockton Hall and at the same time to provide a useful comparison with the same study carried out in the public sector. It provides information on the respective contributions of the public and private sector to medium secure psychiatric care and more specifically will address the issue of variations in access to the facilities and the possible motivations which might explain them. All the admissions were examined for a history of mental disorder, resulting in earlier psychiatric hospitalisation before their present period of psychiatric care. The development of medium secure psychiatric provision within Partnerships in Care, as well as other independent operators can be seen as a private sector, market orientated response to a national shortage of medium secure beds, relating to patients who require medium secure care on a protracted basis.
