[Intentions and realizations of hospital planning in psychiatry].

Hospital planning : why? how? from when? in which frame? These are the questions raised in this article. A historical review is made for the criteria used in hospital planning today. The most important steps are related to changes in hospital psychiatry policy: creation of open services in 1960, integration of psychiatric services in the law on hospitals and development of outpatient services in 1970. The authors emphasize the difficulties in planning because of services overlapping and economic difficulties. The outpatients services and the services for "handicapped" should also be part of a general planning. The problems of coordination between these sectors both for planning and functioning are also raised in this article.