“Four legs good, two legs bad”, bleat the sheep in unison in George Orwell’s Animal Farm to drown out intelligent criticism whenever it is raised.
“Community good, hospital bad”, has been a similar ideological mantra for the past 60 years in psychiatric services.
It was appropriate when we had bulging mental hospitals in which many patients were merely warehoused, but it has gone too far. We have forgotten the hospital component of a community health service, even though it is essential to good practice. Read the article in: www.thelancet.com Vol 389, page 363, January 28, 2017