On the one hand, we observe a reduction in the duration of stay, but on the other hand, we see that, after discharge, patients are readmitted the same year, to the same hospital.
This is usually limited to a single readmission in the same year, but more frequent readmissions are becoming more common.[1]
Number of repeat admissions to psychiatric services for adults in PH and PDGH (2018)
[1] It should be borne in mind that there is no unique patient identification number within Minimum Psychiatric Data. As a result, a patient can only be monitored within the same hospital, and readmissions in other hospitals cannot be accounted for. This may result in an underestimation of the number of readmissions.