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Comparative Study
. 2021 Jan;21(1):e77-e79.
doi: 10.7861/clinmed.2020-0635. Epub 2020 Dec 18.

Mental-health-related admissions to the acute medical unit during COVID-19

Ben Grimshaw  1 , Ella Chaudhuri  2
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Mental-health-related admissions to the acute medical unit during COVID-19

Ben Grimshaw et al. Clin Med (Lond). 2021 Jan.

Abstract

During COVID-19 there has been increased pressure on mental health services internationally. In this report, we compare admissions to one acute medical unit (AMU) for patients with mental health problems during the COVID-19 pandemic (April, May and June 2020) to the same period of time in 2019. We found an increase in this cohort of patients in 2020, both as an absolute number and as a proportion of the medical take. We outline some strategies which we have adopted locally to improve care for this patient group.

Keywords: AMU; COVID-19; acute medicine; mental health.

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Figures

Fig 1.
Fig 1.
Cumulative Mental-health-related admissions plotted against time (2019 and 2020).
Fig 2.
Fig 2.
Mental-health-related admissions as a proportion of the medical take for 3 months in 2019 and 2020.
Fig 3.
Fig 3.
Monthly mental-health-related admissions for 3 months in 2019 and 2020.
Fig 4.
Fig 4.
Proportion of patients in each mental health coding category for 2019 and 2020.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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