BRIDGING THE GAP IN SECURE PROVISION - EVALUATION OF A NEW LOCAL COMBINED LOCKED FORENSIC INTENSIVE-CARE UNIT

This study examines the first 15 months of a new 40-bedded local 'hybr id' mixed forensic and intensive care locked unit, set up to fill an i dentified gap between local intensive care and regional medium secure units. It examines the function of the unit in terms of patient profil e, security and case selection and its admission rate and length of st ay. Advantages and difficulties of such a model are considered. The re sults show that the unit deals successfully with both intensive care a nd offender patients, between which a considerable overlap is apparent . More than a third of the 255 admissions were on Pan III orders. Rema nd orders constituted 22% of all admissions and 17% of admissions were admitted under a restriction order. In contrast to local locked wards , index offences included serious charges such as homicide, rape and a ttempted murder. Compared with regional secure units, there was more d irect access to beds, a higher admission rate and shorter lengths of s tay. It is argued that such units have a unique and important role in filling the current gap in secure provision, especially in the rapid d iversion of the mentally disordered offender from the criminal justice system.