British psych wards as a haven for illegal drug use.

British prisons have long been a haven for drugs. Now it seems that psychiatric wards are as well.As seen in this report

I can think of no better example of what is going on in British psychiatry than today’s report from the BBC of the use of illegal drugs on hospital wards.

The head of a psychiatric hospital admits more than one in seven patients takes illegal drugs on the wards.

In recent weeks patients have smoked crack cocaine inside Chase Farm Hospital, in north London, while others have smuggled cocaine inside fast food.

Meanwhile, a BBC survey suggests there is a laissez faire attitude to drug use in NHS mental health trusts.

Some said they would not automatically call the police if they discovered drugs dealers on their premises.

There are strong links between mental health problems, the taking of illegal drugs and violence, with one major study finding that psychiatric patients with drugs problems kill up to 32 people every year.

Drugs causing Mental Health issues? who would have thought? As commented here:

The most striking thing about this report is not the drug problem. It is the fact that there are no doctors involved. We hear from Oliver the hospital administrator, and from some nurses.

Where are the psychiatrists?

How extraordinary that this report, referring to a specific hospital, contains no reference to a psychiatrist. Do they not care? Do they know what is going on?

Whoever is in charge here, it is not the doctors.

GPs are bombarded with “newsletters” from hospitals telling them how well everything is going. These are always on the Soviet model of “Good news, comrades, tractor production has improved.” It was not difficult to find the relevant document from Oliver. True to form, it is an orgy of self-congratulatory bureaucrats and middle-managers awarding each other prizes.

Read Oliver's full document, in all its soviet splendour, here. (pdf file)