Barriers and errors in the implementation of community psychiatry in Slovenia

Background Slovenian psychiatry is predominantly hospital based. A programme for the development of general community psychiatric services was proposed to improve access to and quality and comprehensiveness of psychiatric care according to the modern standards of delivery of psychiatric services. Aim The aim of the paper is to present the programme for developing community services that was proposed to the Slovenian government, and to describe the barriers to its implementation that were encountered, as well as the errors made by the programme authors, that contributed to the rejection of the programme last year. Conclusions There are historical, political, professional and service organisation characteristics that impede the development of community psychiatry in Slovenia. These are to be addressed through coordinated action involving primary care professionals, non-government organisations with service users and carers, the Health Insurance Agency and politicians involved in the planning of health services.