[Admission of psychiatric patients in accordance with Lower Saxony psychiatric legislation].

Our experience shows that independent of the place of residence those people are significantly more likely to be released from psychiatric hospital after a few days who had been referred by physicians with (at least as their medical activities seem to show) less experience in psychiatry than specialists in that discipline. The percentage of patients referred to a psychiatric hospital in accordance with lower saxony law and whose long-term hospitalisation appears warranted, differs between the individual groups of physicians and is additionally dependent on the place of residence. In fact, in the county of Hannover those physicians who were not engaged in psychiatry referred an even larger proportion of patients to psychiatric hospitals in 1982 than did the psychiatrists, whereas in the city of Hannover 60% of those patients referred to hospital by psychiatrists subsequently remained there longer as inmates than the patients of the other group. Summing up, we can at least suspect that in a considerably large number of cases compulsory referral was restored to--in correlation with the psychiatric experience of the physician and/or depending upon the situation--because none of the other legally provided measures appeared to be available, for example, the official sociopsychiatric counselling offices which are closed outside normal office hours and on weekends. Thus, competent help in cases of crisis is unavailable if the need arises during an odd time of the day or on a Saturday or Sunday, the only way out being referral to a psychiatric hospital.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)