An Older People's Functional Mental Health Ward: A Year in Figures

Aims We aimed to review various health outcomes for patients admitted to an older adult psychiatry ward specialising in functional illness, over a one year period. In 2020 the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland highlighted a concern about the lack of evidence and data surrounding admission to older people’s functional mental health wards. We aimed to review this for North Lanarkshire and provide a comprehensive overview of our in-patient population that will aid in service review and improve care. Methods We reviewed the electronic notes of all patients (total: 99) admitted to the ward over a one year period. Extracted data included demographics, medications, mental health act status, discharge destination and readmissions. Results We found the average age was 73 years old and the median length of stay was 33 days (mean 63). Patients were admitted with a wide range of diagnosis including (most common to least): mood disorders, psychotic disorders, dementia, substance misuse and ARBD, delirium and personality disorders. 30% of patients required detention under the mental health act during their admission, but this fell to only 7% on discharge. 51% of patients were discharged on an antipsychotic. The majority of patients were discharged home; within a year 34% were readmitted to psychiatry and 40% required a medical admission. Conclusion We found that our demographic information was broadly consistent with the mental welfare commission's findings. However there is a significant variation in length of stay shown by the difference in the mean and median, due to a small number of significantly longer admissions. Notably there were numerous admissions with a dementia as a primary diagnosis, on a functional ward. In this age group it was significant that a high proportion of patients were prescribed antipsychotics. Further work is required to better understand these findings.