Number of mental-hospital beds

The provision of mental health services in England for people over 65 years of age, 1970-78

The twentieth century saw an increasing number of people living into old age, and consequently a higher prevalence of age-related chronic degenerative brain disorders. By 1971 the mental hospitals were almost half full with people over 65 years of age. Thus plans to close the mental hospitals meant that the development of community mental health services for older people was a necessity. Although there was a multi-disciplinary focus on the care of older people, the lead in service development was largely taken by psychiatrists, both individually and through the Group for the Psychiatry of Old Age at the Royal College of Psychiatrists.