Where do they go to after the unit?

When secure forensic services are set up people often worry that service users - who can be drawn from a wide geographical area - will be discharged close to the unit leading to an increased burden on local health services and a rise in the crime rate. There has been no research into whether this actually happens or not so a study of service users at the Norvic Clinic in Norwich tried to find out. The study looked at the addresses service users had been discharged to between 1984 and 2006 and found that they lived considerably closer to the clinic on discharge than they had on admission and that this increase was concentrated in a few geographical areas. 76% of patients moved area at some point and this was more common after longer admissions and for patients admitted from high-secure hospitals. The study found that patients were discharged disproportionately to areas around the clinic.

Jones, Christopher N. - Community residence on discharge from a medium secure unit: where have all the patients gone? Journal of Forensic Psychiatry and Psychology April 2009, 20(2), 225-238