Patients refused admission to psychiatric hospitals in The Netherlands.

In The Netherlands unforeseen and unwanted effects of the "de jure" policy of the government are outpatient waiting lists and refusal of applications for admission to mental hospitals. A register of applications of six mental hospitals in the northern part of The Netherlands reveals that there are significant differences between admitted and refused patients with regard to juridical status, urgency, catchment area, referral source, age and type of problems.