[Waiting lists for psychogeriatric nursing home admissions: insight into the problematic waiting times]

In this article the waiting list for psychogeriatric nursing home care has been described for a large town in the Randstad (Netherlands). A literature study on psychogeriatric waiting lists was conducted; in a qualitative research project the procedure for admission on the waiting list was studied; and in a files study the characteristics of patients on the waiting lists, the waiting times and factors influencing waiting time have been studied. During the research period (1991) 111 patients were admitted to a waiting list, including 8 patients for whom admission was considered to be very urgent. These highly urgent patients were all mildly demented and had a mean waiting time of nine days. Almost half of the patients who were considered 'normally urgent' were moderately demented. The normally urgent patients had a mean waiting time of fourteen weeks. Hospitalized patients waiting for admission to a nursing home, had a lower waiting time than patients with the same urgency who were waiting at home. In comparison to the norms (8 weeks), the mean waiting time was unacceptably long.