A patient is any recipient of health care services that are performed by healthcare professionals . The patient is most often ill or injured and in need of treatment by a physician , nurse , optometrist , dentist , veterinarian , or other health care provider .
59-530: The word patient originally meant 'one who suffers'. This English noun comes from the Latin word patiens , the present participle of the deponent verb , patior , meaning 'I am suffering,' and akin to the Greek verb πάσχειν ( paskhein , to suffer) and its cognate noun πάθος ( pathos ). This language has been construed as meaning that the role of patients is to passively accept and tolerate
118-536: A behavioral health hospital , or an asylum is a specialized medical facility that focuses on the treatment of severe mental disorders . These institutions cater to patients with conditions such as schizophrenia , bipolar disorder , major depressive disorder , and eating disorders , among others. Psychiatric hospitals vary considerably in size and classification. Some specialize in short-term or outpatient therapy for low-risk patients , while others provide long-term care for individuals requiring routine assistance or
177-404: A business relationship. In veterinary medicine , the client is the owner or guardian of the patient. These may be used by governmental agencies, insurance companies , patient groups, or health care facilities . Individuals who use or have used psychiatric services may alternatively refer to themselves as consumers, users, or survivors . In nursing homes and assisted living facilities,
236-404: A business relationship. In veterinary medicine , the client is the owner or guardian of the patient. These may be used by governmental agencies, insurance companies , patient groups, or health care facilities . Individuals who use or have used psychiatric services may alternatively refer to themselves as consumers, users, or survivors . In nursing homes and assisted living facilities,
295-568: A controlled environment due to their psychiatric condition. Patients may choose voluntary commitment , but those deemed to pose a significant danger to themselves or others may be subject to involuntary commitment and treatment . In general hospitals, psychiatric wards or units serve a similar purpose. Modern psychiatric hospitals have evolved from the older concept of lunatic asylums , shifting focus from mere containment and restraint to evidence-based treatments that aim to help patients function in society. With successive waves of reform, and
354-459: A decade, medical errors are even more likely to happen in a doctor's office or outpatient clinic or center. A day patient (or day-patient ) is a patient who is using the full range of services of a hospital or clinic but is not expected to stay the night. The term was originally used by psychiatric hospital services using of this patient type to care for people needing support to make the transition from in-patient to out-patient care. However,
413-458: A decade, medical errors are even more likely to happen in a doctor's office or outpatient clinic or center. A day patient (or day-patient ) is a patient who is using the full range of services of a hospital or clinic but is not expected to stay the night. The term was originally used by psychiatric hospital services using of this patient type to care for people needing support to make the transition from in-patient to out-patient care. However,
472-484: A note explaining the reason for the visit , tests , or procedure / surgery , which should include the names and titles of the participating personnel, the patient's name and date of birth , signature of informed consent , estimated pre-and post-service time for history and exam (before and after), any anesthesia , medications or future treatment plans needed, and estimated time of discharge absent any (further) complications . Treatment provided in this fashion
531-513: A number of institutions specializing only in the treatment of juveniles, particularly when dealing with drug abuse, self-harm, eating disorders, anxiety, depression or other mental illnesses. In the United Kingdom, long-term care facilities are now being replaced with smaller secure units, some within hospitals. Modern buildings, modern security, and being locally situated to help with reintegration into society once medication has stabilized
590-445: A resident physician . At the beginning of the 19th century there were a few thousand people housed in a variety of disparate institutions throughout England, but by 1900 that figure had grown to about 100,000. This growth coincided with the growth of alienism , later known as psychiatry, as a medical specialism. The treatment of inmates in early lunatic asylums was sometimes very brutal and focused on containment and restraint. In
649-527: A time, though this practice still is periodically employed in the United States , India , Japan , and other countries. Modern psychiatric hospitals evolved from, and eventually replaced, the older lunatic asylum. Their development also entails the rise of organized institutional psychiatry . Hospitals known as bimaristans were built in the Middle East in the early ninth century; the first
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#1732798793914708-578: Is called ambulatory care . Sometimes surgery is performed without the need for a formal hospital admission or an overnight stay, and this is called outpatient surgery or day surgery, which has many benefits including lowered healthcare cost , reducing the amount of medication prescribed, and using the physician's or surgeon's time more efficiently. Outpatient surgery is suited best for more healthy patients undergoing minor or intermediate procedures (limited urinary-tract , eye , or ear, nose, and throat procedures and procedures involving superficial skin and
767-578: Is called ambulatory care . Sometimes surgery is performed without the need for a formal hospital admission or an overnight stay, and this is called outpatient surgery or day surgery, which has many benefits including lowered healthcare cost , reducing the amount of medication prescribed, and using the physician's or surgeon's time more efficiently. Outpatient surgery is suited best for more healthy patients undergoing minor or intermediate procedures (limited urinary-tract , eye , or ear, nose, and throat procedures and procedures involving superficial skin and
826-494: Is called inpatient care . The admission to the hospital involves the production of an admission note . The leaving of the hospital is officially termed discharge , and involves a corresponding discharge note , and sometimes an assessment process to consider ongoing needs. In the English National Health Service this may take the form of "Discharge to Assess" - where the assessment takes place after
885-408: Is called inpatient care . The admission to the hospital involves the production of an admission note . The leaving of the hospital is officially termed discharge , and involves a corresponding discharge note , and sometimes an assessment process to consider ongoing needs. In the English National Health Service this may take the form of "Discharge to Assess" - where the assessment takes place after
944-612: Is far less risk of patients harming themselves or others. In Dublin , the Central Mental Hospital performs a similar function. Community hospitals across the United States regularly discharge mental health patients, who are then typically referred to out-patient treatment and therapy. A study of community hospital discharge data from 2003 to 2011, however, found that mental health hospitalizations had increased for both children and adults. Compared to other hospital utilization, mental health discharges for children were
1003-535: Is most often ill or injured and in need of treatment by a physician , nurse , optometrist , dentist , veterinarian , or other health care provider . The word patient originally meant 'one who suffers'. This English noun comes from the Latin word patiens , the present participle of the deponent verb , patior , meaning 'I am suffering,' and akin to the Greek verb πάσχειν ( paskhein , to suffer) and its cognate noun πάθος ( pathos ). This language has been construed as meaning that
1062-540: Is still registered, and the provider will usually give a note explaining the reason for the visit , tests , or procedure / surgery , which should include the names and titles of the participating personnel, the patient's name and date of birth , signature of informed consent , estimated pre-and post-service time for history and exam (before and after), any anesthesia , medications or future treatment plans needed, and estimated time of discharge absent any (further) complications . Treatment provided in this fashion
1121-557: Is widely known for his comprehensive critique of the use and abuse of the mental hospital system in Madness and Civilization . He argued that Tuke and Pinel's asylum was a symbolic recreation of the condition of a child under a bourgeois family. It was a microcosm symbolizing the massive structures of bourgeois society and its values: relations of Family–Children (paternal authority), Fault–Punishment (immediate justice), Madness–Disorder (social and moral order). Erving Goffman coined
1180-663: The Home Secretary can, under various sections of the Mental Health Act, order the detention of offenders in a psychiatric hospital, but the term "criminally insane" is no longer legally or medically recognized. Secure psychiatric units exist in all regions of the UK for this purpose; in addition, there are a few specialist hospitals which offer treatment with high levels of security. These facilities are divided into three main categories: High, Medium and Low Secure. Although
1239-1173: The Isle of Man , and the Channel Islands , medium and low secure units exist but high secure units on the UK mainland are used for patients who qualify for the treatment under the Out of Area (Off-Island Placements) Referrals provision of the Mental Health Act 1983 . Among the three unit types, medium secure facilities are the most prevalent in the UK. As of 2009, there were 27 women-only units in England. Irish units include those at prisons in Portlaise, Castelrea, and Cork. Psychiatrist Thomas Szasz in Hungary has argued that psychiatric hospitals are like prisons unlike other kinds of hospitals, and that psychiatrists who coerce people (into treatment or involuntary commitment) function as judges and jailers, not physicians. Historian Michel Foucault
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#17327987939141298-521: The mental patient liberation movement . There are several different types of modern psychiatric hospitals, but all of them house people with mental illnesses of varying severity. In the United Kingdom , both crisis admissions and medium-term care are usually provided on acute admissions wards. Juvenile or youth wards in psychiatric hospitals or psychiatric wards are set aside for children or youth with mental illness. Long-term care facilities have
1357-507: The aggression of some of the patients. In Western Europe , the first idea and set up for a proper mental hospital entered through Spain . A member of the Mercedarian Order named Juan Gilaberto Jofré traveled frequently to Islamic countries and observed several institutions that confined the insane. He proposed the founding of an institution exclusive for "sick people who had to be treated by doctors", something very modern for
1416-589: The center, and especially that patients themselves are heard loud and clear within health services. There are many reasons for why health services should listen more to patients. Patients spend more time in healthcare services than regulators or quality controllers, and can recognize problems such as service delays, poor hygiene, and poor conduct. Patients are particularly good at identifying soft problems, such as attitudes, communication, and 'caring neglect', that are difficult to capture with institutional monitoring. One important way in which patients can be placed at
1475-585: The center, and especially that patients themselves are heard loud and clear within health services. There are many reasons for why health services should listen more to patients. Patients spend more time in healthcare services than regulators or quality controllers, and can recognize problems such as service delays, poor hygiene, and poor conduct. Patients are particularly good at identifying soft problems, such as attitudes, communication, and 'caring neglect', that are difficult to capture with institutional monitoring. One important way in which patients can be placed at
1534-418: The centre of healthcare is for health services to be more open about patient complaints. Each year many hundreds of thousands of patients complain about the care they have received, and these complaints contain valuable information for any health services which want to learn about and improve patient experience. Psychiatric hospital A psychiatric hospital , also known as a mental health hospital ,
1593-451: The centre of healthcare is for health services to be more open about patient complaints. Each year many hundreds of thousands of patients complain about the care they have received, and these complaints contain valuable information for any health services which want to learn about and improve patient experience. patient A patient is any recipient of health care services that are performed by healthcare professionals . The patient
1652-627: The centre of healthcare, when institutional procedures and targets eclipse local concerns, then patient neglect is possible. Incidents, such as the Stafford Hospital scandal , Winterbourne View hospital abuse scandal and the Veterans Health Administration controversy of 2014 have shown the dangers of prioritizing cost control over the patient experience. Investigations into these and other scandals have recommended that healthcare systems put patient experience at
1711-474: The centre of healthcare, when institutional procedures and targets eclipse local concerns, then patient neglect is possible. Incidents, such as the Stafford Hospital scandal , Winterbourne View hospital abuse scandal and the Veterans Health Administration controversy of 2014 have shown the dangers of prioritizing cost control over the patient experience. Investigations into these and other scandals have recommended that healthcare systems put patient experience at
1770-959: The condition are often features of such units. Examples of this include the Three Bridges Unit at St Bernard's Hospital in West London and the John Munroe Hospital in Staffordshire . These units have the goal of treatment and rehabilitation to allow for transition back into society within a short time-frame, usually lasting two or three years. Not all patients' treatment meets this criterion, however, leading larger hospitals to retain this role. These hospitals provide stabilization and rehabilitation for those who are actively experiencing uncontrolled symptoms of mental disorders such as depression, bipolar disorders, eating disorders, and so on. One type of institution for
1829-477: The difficulty of distinguishing sane patients from insane patients. Franco Basaglia , a leading psychiatrist who inspired and planned the psychiatric reform in Italy , also defined the mental hospital as an oppressive, locked, and total institution in which prison-like, punitive rules are applied, in order to gradually eliminate its own contents. Patients, doctors and nurses are all subjected (at different levels) to
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1888-510: The extremities). More procedures are being performed in a surgeon 's office, termed office-based surgery , rather than in a hospital-based operating room . An inpatient (or in-patient ), on the other hand, is "admitted" to stay in a hospital overnight or for an indeterminate time, usually, several days or weeks, though in some extreme cases, such as with coma or persistent vegetative state , patients can stay in hospitals for years, sometimes until death . Treatment provided in this fashion
1947-510: The extremities). More procedures are being performed in a surgeon 's office, termed office-based surgery , rather than in a hospital-based operating room . An inpatient (or in-patient ), on the other hand, is "admitted" to stay in a hospital overnight or for an indeterminate time, usually, several days or weeks, though in some extreme cases, such as with coma or persistent vegetative state , patients can stay in hospitals for years, sometimes until death . Treatment provided in this fashion
2006-399: The focus in these units is to make life as normal as possible for patients while continuing treatment to the point where they can be discharged. However, patients are usually still not allowed to hold their own medications in their rooms because of the risk of an impulsive overdose. While some open units are physically unlocked, other open units still use locked entrances and exits, depending on
2065-545: The fore in the 1960s has opposed many of the practices, conditions, or existence of mental hospitals; due to the extreme conditions in them. The psychiatric consumer/survivor movement has often objected to or campaigned against conditions in mental hospitals or their use, voluntarily or involuntarily. The mental patient liberation movement emphatically opposes involuntary treatment but it generally does not object to any psychiatric treatments that are consensual, provided that both parties can withdraw consent at any time. Alongside
2124-730: The goal of treatment and rehabilitation within a short time-frame (two or three years). Another institution for the mentally ill is a community-based halfway house . In the United States, there are high acuity and low acuity crisis facilities (or Crisis Stabilization Units). High acuity crisis stabilization units serve individuals who are actively suicidal, violent, or intoxicated. Low acuity crisis facilities include peer respites, social detoxes, and other programs to serve individuals who are not actively suicidal/violent. Open psychiatric units are not as secure as crisis stabilization units. They are not used for acutely suicidal people; instead,
2183-413: The introduction of effective evidence-based treatments, most modern psychiatric hospitals emphasize treatment, usually including a combination of psychiatric medications and psychotherapy , that assist patients in functioning in the outside world. Many countries have prohibited the use of physical restraints on patients, which includes tying psychiatric patients to their beds for days or even months at
2242-429: The introduction of effective evidence-based treatments, modern psychiatric hospitals provide a primary emphasis on treatment; and further, they attempt—where possible—to help patients control their own lives in the outside world with the use of a combination of psychiatric drugs and psychotherapy . These treatments can be involuntary. Involuntary treatments are among the many psychiatric practices which are questioned by
2301-410: The late 19th and early 20th centuries, psychiatric institutions ceased using terms such as "madness", "lunacy" or "insanity", which assumed a unitary psychosis, and began instead splitting into numerous mental diseases, including catatonia, melancholia, and dementia praecox, which is now known as schizophrenia . In 1961, sociologist Erving Goffman described a theory of the " total institution " and
2360-751: The lowest while the most rapidly increasing hospitalizations were for adults under 64. Some units have been opened to provide therapeutically enhanced Treatment, a subcategory to the three main hospital unit types. In the UK, high secure hospitals exist, including Ashworth Hospital in Merseyside , Broadmoor Hospital in Crowthorne , Rampton Secure Hospital in Retford , and the State Hospital in Carstairs , Scotland . In Northern Ireland ,
2419-542: The many 'pauper lunatics'. Nine counties first applied, the first public asylum opening in 1812 in Nottinghamshire . In 1828, the newly appointed Commissioners in Lunacy were empowered to license and supervise private asylums. The Lunacy Act 1845 made the construction of asylums in every county compulsory with regular inspections on behalf of the Home Secretary , and required asylums to have written regulations and
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2478-477: The mental institution may be used for the incarceration of political prisoners as a form of punishment. One notable historical example was the use of punitive psychiatry in the Soviet Union and China . Like the former Soviet Union and China, Belarus also has used punitive psychiatry toward political opponents and critics of current government in modern times. In the United Kingdom, criminal courts or
2537-415: The mentally ill is a community-based halfway house . These facilities provide assisted living for an extended period of time for patients with mental illnesses, and they often aid in the transition to self-sufficiency. These institutions are considered to be one of the most important parts of a mental health system by many psychiatrists , although some localities lack sufficient funding. In some countries,
2596-425: The patient has gone home. Misdiagnosis is the leading cause of medical error in outpatient facilities. When the U.S. Institute of Medicine 's groundbreaking 1999 report, To Err Is Human , found up to 98,000 hospital patients die from preventable medical errors in the U.S. each year, early efforts focused on inpatient safety. While patient safety efforts have focused on inpatient hospital settings for more than
2655-422: The patient has gone home. Misdiagnosis is the leading cause of medical error in outpatient facilities. When the U.S. Institute of Medicine 's groundbreaking 1999 report, To Err Is Human , found up to 98,000 hospital patients die from preventable medical errors in the U.S. each year, early efforts focused on inpatient safety. While patient safety efforts have focused on inpatient hospital settings for more than
2714-538: The phrase "Maximum Secure" is often used in the media, there is no such classification. "Local Secure" is a common misnomer for Low Secure units, as patients are often detained there by local criminal courts for psychiatric assessment before sentencing. Run by the National Health Service , these facilities which provide psychiatric assessments can also provide treatment and accommodation in a safe hospital environment which prevents absconding. Thus there
2773-443: The process by which it takes efforts to maintain predictable and regular behavior on the part of both "guard" and "captor", suggesting that many of the features of such institutions serve the ritual function of ensuring that both classes of people know their function and social role , in other words of " institutionalizing " them. Asylums as a key text in the development of deinstitutionalization . With successive waves of reform and
2832-430: The role of patients is to passively accept and tolerate the suffering and treatments prescribed by the healthcare providers, without engaging in shared decision-making about their care. An outpatient (or out-patient ) is a patient who attends an outpatient clinic with no plan to stay beyond the duration of the visit. Even if the patient will not be formally admitted with a note as an outpatient, their attendance
2891-456: The same process of institutionalism. American psychiatrist Loren Mosher noticed that the psychiatric institution itself gave him master classes in the art of the "total institution": labeling, unnecessary dependency, the induction and perpetuation of powerlessness, the degradation ceremony , authoritarianism, and the primacy of institutional needs over the patients, whom it was ostensibly there to serve. The anti-psychiatry movement coming to
2950-428: The suffering and treatments prescribed by the healthcare providers, without engaging in shared decision-making about their care. An outpatient (or out-patient ) is a patient who attends an outpatient clinic with no plan to stay beyond the duration of the visit. Even if the patient will not be formally admitted with a note as an outpatient, their attendance is still registered, and the provider will usually give
3009-472: The term resident is generally used in lieu of patient . Similarly, those receiving home health care are called clients . The doctor–patient relationship has sometimes been characterized as silencing the voice of patients. It is now widely agreed that putting patients at the centre of healthcare by trying to provide a consistent, informative and respectful service to patients will improve both outcomes and patient satisfaction. When patients are not at
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#17327987939143068-468: The term resident is generally used in lieu of patient . Similarly, those receiving home health care are called clients . The doctor–patient relationship has sometimes been characterized as silencing the voice of patients. It is now widely agreed that putting patients at the centre of healthcare by trying to provide a consistent, informative and respectful service to patients will improve both outcomes and patient satisfaction. When patients are not at
3127-570: The term " total institution " for mental hospitals and similar places which took over and confined a person's whole life. Goffman placed psychiatric hospitals in the same category as concentration camps , prisons , military organizations, orphanages , and monasteries. In his book Asylums Goffman describes how the institutionalisation process socialises people into the role of a good patient, someone "dull, harmless and inconspicuous"; in turn, it reinforces notions of chronicity in severe mental illness. The Rosenhan experiment of 1973 demonstrated
3186-457: The term is now also heavily used for people attending hospitals for day surgery. Because of concerns such as dignity , human rights and political correctness , the term "patient" is not always used to refer to a person receiving health care. Other terms that are sometimes used include health consumer , healthcare consumer , customer or client . However, such terminology may be offensive to those receiving public health care , as it implies
3245-457: The term is now also heavily used for people attending hospitals for day surgery. Because of concerns such as dignity , human rights and political correctness , the term "patient" is not always used to refer to a person receiving health care. Other terms that are sometimes used include health consumer , healthcare consumer , customer or client . However, such terminology may be offensive to those receiving public health care , as it implies
3304-459: The time. The foundation was carried out in 1409 thanks to several wealthy men from Valencia who contributed funds for its completion. It was considered the first institution in the world at that time specialized in the treatment of mental illnesses. Later on, physicians, including Philippe Pinel at Bicêtre Hospital in France and William Tuke at York Retreat in England, began to advocate for
3363-482: The type of patients admitted. Another type of psychiatric hospital is medium term, which provides care lasting several weeks. Most drugs used for psychiatric purposes take several weeks to take effect, and the main purpose of these hospitals is to monitor the patient for the first few weeks of therapy to ensure the treatment is effective. Juvenile wards are sections of psychiatric hospitals or psychiatric wards set aside for children with mental illness. However, there are
3422-649: The viewing of mental illness as a disorder that required compassionate treatment that would aid in the rehabilitation of the victim. In the Western world, the arrival of institutionalisation as a solution to the problem of madness was very much an advent of the nineteenth century. The first public mental asylums were established in Britain; the passing of the County Asylums Act 1808 empowered magistrates to build rate-supported asylums in every county to house
3481-622: Was built in Baghdad under the leadership of Harun al-Rashid . While not devoted solely to patients with psychiatric disorders, early psychiatric hospitals often contained wards for patients exhibiting mania or other psychological distress. Because of cultural taboos against refusing to care for one's family members, mentally ill patients would be surrendered to a bimaristan only if the patient demonstrated violence, incurable chronic illness, or some other extremely debilitating ailment. Psychological wards were typically enclosed by iron bars owing to
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