Unfair staff-patient ratios of mental hospitals in Japan]

Japanese Medical Service Law regulates the staff-patient ratios of the hospital beds which are divided into four categories: tuberculosis, psychiatric, infectious diseases and others. The staff-patient ratios for mental hospitals have been regulated under the lowest level since 1958. Consequently, there have been frequent use of restraints and segregation of patients. A committee was set up to review the above standards in the fall of 2000 for the first time. The conclusions drawn by the committee for the change of various standards including staff-patient ratios for mental hospitals were far from desirable from the view of mental health professionals and patients' family members. At this presentation, the reasons for the difficulty of improving the staff-patient ratios in Japanese mental hospitals will be noted with critical analysis, the author having been the member of the hospital standard review committee.