Can children with a psychiatric disorder be treated in a general ward?

Because admission to a regional child and adolescent psychiatric unit is often fraught with difficulties children with psychiatric disorders were admitted to a general children's ward. Over the four years (1980-4) 24 patients accounted for 31 admissions. Of these, five had feeding disorders (anorexia, bulimia), seven neuroses, three psychoses, four elimination disorders, and five other diagnoses. All the children were later discharged to their homes, most having appreciably improved. Because of the proximity of the hospital to the child's natural environment work with the families and schools was not interrupted by the admission. The results of this approach are encouraging and could have implications for future planning of services for this category of patients.