Mental health policy and practice across Europe: an overview

24 Mental health policy and practice
Table 2.1 Beds in state psychiatric hospitals as a percentage of total psychiatric beds:
EU states and candidate states, 1972–2001
1972 1982 2001
EU-15
Austria 96 94 90
Belgium 98 96 66
Denmark 89 80 26
Finland 1 90 – 0
France 80 76 64
Germany 2 – 92 63
Greece 98 99 49
Ireland 99 93 85
Italy 3 – 96 0
Luxembourg 88 87 71
Netherlands 70 54 82
Portugal 4 96 100 27
Spain 99 92 84
Sweden 75 58 –
UK 95 86 –
Candidate states (in 2001)
Bulgaria 5 39 – 49
Czech Republic 6 49 44 86
Estonia – – 78
Hungary 15 15 24
Latvia – – 97
Lithuania – – 91
Malta 83 89 99
Poland 79 74 79
Romania 65 77 77
Slovakia – – 66
Slovenia – – 57
Sources: For 1972 and 1982 data: Freeman et al. (1985: 32–5, Tables 1–2); for 2001 data: WHO
Atlas (2001), passim.
1 Finland omits other-psychiatric beds for 1982. 1982 public-psychiatric beds were 19,095,
almost the same as 1972. The 2001 figure of ‘0’ for ‘psychiatric beds in mental hospitals’ may be
questionable, as another source indicates that ‘the state . . . owns two psychiatric hospitals’
(EOHSP 2001c: 26).
2 Data are for West Germany only for 1982. In 1982 the public-psychiatric percentage of total
beds in East Germany was virtually the same as in West Germany. No data available for 1972.
No information given in 1982 or 2001 on private psychiatric hospitals or other non-general
hospital institutions. A 1990 law artificially shrank the denominator by ceasing to consider
some beds in rehabilitation hospitals and health resorts as psychiatric beds (see Haug and
Rössler 1999).
3 In Italy no breakdown on public psychiatric beds vs. other psychiatric beds in 1972 is
available.
4 Portugal reported no other psychiatric beds for 1982 (as opposed to 420 in 1972).
5 Bulgaria failed in 1982 to report a large number of other-psychiatric beds that were evidently
present.
6 Czechoslovakia in 1972, 1982.
NB: All 2001 figures calculated from the rates given in the source (N public psychiatric hospital
beds per 10,000 population/N total psychiatric hospital beds/10,000 population); 1972 and
1982 figures calculated from absolute numbers of beds. No 2001 data are available for Sweden or
United Kingdom. ‘Other-psychiatric’ beds, aside from public mental hospitals, will include
psychiatry wards in general hospitals, psychogeriatric institutions, charitable psychiatric
hospitals and private psychiatric hospitals, among other institutions.