Objective: Local care provision for the chronically mentally ill entails re
sponsibility to be taken by all institutions involved in the care system of
their respective area. ln the clinical sphere regional responsibility is i
mplement-ed to a large extent apart from a few university clinics. The Univ
ersity Psychiatry and Psychotherapy Clinic Tuebingen look after an area wit
h obligatory provision of care consisting of 140 000 inhabitants in 1995. R
esults: The comparative evaluation of the basic documentation showed minima
l overall changes but an increase of older patients, of patients who are fr
equently hospitalised, and of addicts. The number of emergencies remained u
nchanged. The concomitant questioning of colleagues indicated delayed accep
tance of the change. According to experiences made to date, the conditions
for research and teaching have improved in certain areas thanks to the obli
gatory provision of care.