Douglas House. Seven years' experience of a community hostel ward

Of 24 residents of a ten-bed, community-based hostel ward suffering chronic psychiatric illness, nine have been resettled in the community, with four more expected to follow them. Five residents have made Douglas House their home but another six have manifested behavioural disturbance necessitating return to hospital wards. We found community discharge to be associated with illnesses having good prognostic features, while organic illness militated against such placement. Indicators of a prior history of behavioural disturbance seem to predict difficulties in managing a patient in this environment.