[Community psychiatry in Offenbach--a short-cut for local psychiatric service]

The question as to whether psychiatric units in district general hospitals can replace the existing large mental hospitals, is still controversial. Recently, this issue was discussed in a governmental report on the reform of the psychiatric services in the Federal Republic of Germany. It has been shown by the example of the community-orientated comprehensive mental health care system of the city of Offenbach, that a psychiatric unit of 80 beds is capable of handling and managing the district responsibilities of a defined area of 110.000 inhabitants, provided qualified and sufficient complementary and outpatient service facilities are available, especially for the chronically ill patients and their families.