The development of community mental health centres in the U.K

This paper describes a survey of British Community Mental Health Centres (CMHCs). CMHCs are by far the most visible manifestation of the implementation of community mental health care policies of the 1980s. While these centres have demonstrated achievements in terms of accessibility, co-ordination and responsiveness to clients, they have also been bedevilled by ambiguity. The vast majority of CMHCs aim to serve the needs of all forms of mental illness within their catchment area, yet in practice, they have frequently failed to meet the needs of people with long term severe disorders and concentrate instead on providing assessment and counseling services for neurotic and transient situational disorders. It appears that this is a function of an early failure of multidisciplinary teams to delineate boundaries and priorities. If the British CMHC movement sharpens its focus and combines this with a determination to address the complexities involved in both rationing and enhancing choice, it could begin to improve upon rather than simply repeat the history of similar developments in America.