The quality in mental health services – data on care for patients with schizophrenia from the community-based mental health clinic "Veldre”, Riga Centre of Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine

In Latvia the methodology for qualitative and quantitative evaluation and improvement of the mental health service system is currently under development. Clinic “Veldre” (2012) is one of the only two community – based mental health care centers in Latvia. The quality of clinic “Veldre” has never been assessed before. The aim was to assess the quality of care for patients with schizophrenia of the “Veldre” clinic’s outpatient department. The retrospective nonexperimental observational study was performed. The data for the last three years were obtained from the inner information system. The quality indicators were calculated for the patients of the outpatient department (aged 18 – 65 with the diagnosis of schizophrenia spectrum disorder): Percentage of patients rehospitalized to the same psychiatric facility within 30 days after discharge (indicator F 1) Percentage of patients rehospitalized to the same psychiatric facility within a year after discharge (F 2) Percentage of patients received a psychiatry consult within 30 days after discharge (F 3) Frequent rehospitalization rate - percentage of patients readmitted for the in-patient care more than once per year (F 4) Long-stayers rate - percentage of patients spend more then 28 days continuously in the in – patient care (F5) Percentage of patients received care in the day clinic within one year after being discharged from in-patient care for the first, second, third time in their life (F 6) Suicide rate within one year following the discharge from in-patient psychiatric care (F 7) Mortality rate (F 8). The results are compared with the corresponding international data. Results of the study can be used to improve the quality of care for people with schizophrenia. Further research is needed to compare the quality of community - based mental health service with the conventional one.