Long term secure care in Tasmania

The aim was to determine the requirement in Tasmania for long term (greater than 28 days) secure ward beds, and to characterise the patients who use them. There was complete enumeration over an 18 month period. The results included that 3.6 long term secure beds were used per 100,000 general population. Compared to those who were discharged during the survey, those who were not discharged were older, had spent longer in psychiatric hospitals and were more likely to be male and to suffer from schizophrenia. All patients were white Australians. The conclusions included that for planning purposes a minimum of 4.6 long term secure beds was required per 100,000 general population. Also, Aboriginal people and people from non-English speaking backgrounds were not over represented in long term secure care in Tasmania. Finally, "good" and "poor" prognosis groups were identified and further work is required to determine how these can best be managed.