Letter: The burden of change in community care

Sir: Your leading article and report concerning the new measures for supervised discharge of the mentally ill (13 August) rightly raised questions about the level of funding required to ensure good quality care now that services are increasingly community based.

The new changes appear to have a priority of protecting the sane, and if implemented without extra resources may in effect railroad community care into concentrating services on the small number who pose difficulties and leave the rest to sink or swim. What we should be aiming for is a comprehensive service that offers a range of services and community based interventions shown to be effective.

We should also be giving users of our services a stronger voice, and not wait for them to be mauled, kill others or readmitted before we listen to their concerns.

Yours sincerely,

CHRIS ALLEN

Chairperson

Psychologists' Special Interest

Group in Rehabilitation

The British Psychological Society

Leicester