Bureaucracy and Government Men
Bureaucracy and Government MenGovernment run Mental Health Facilities is designed to care for the mentally ill people within our society. These facilities have set rules and regulations that each patient must fall within. They are required to follow these guidelines, even though every patient's problem is unique and different from one to the next.
Local Medical Hospitals care for a large percentage of people suffering with a mental illness; their care is to be breif until a Mental Health Facility is found for them. The bureaucracy that must be dealth with makes it hard for these local hospitals to place these patients. Within an Emergency Room setting it can take up to two days to place a patient. The Medical Hospital has skilled staffing for these people's needs however, not for a long-term stay. The patients are in need of a long-term treatment plan that can't be achieved through an Emergency Room.
When the Mental Health Facility receives a phone call in reards to a patient that needs placemnet within their care, it takes hours for them to decide if they will take them as a patient. They have to go through the hierarchy of offices before they will give the okay for the patient to be transported. Once the patient has been accepted, there is an immense amount of paperwork that must be completed before the patient can be released from the Medical Hospital care. If the patient shows signs or symptoms of anything else other than a mental illness, the Mental health Facility will deny the approval of acceptance. This could result from a simple headache to an AIDS condition. Because there is a complaint of a medical ailment along with a mental ailment, they will request the medical ailment to be taken care of prior to transport. The set rules and regulations must be followed strictly.
This organization needs a change; the bureaucracy hinders the urgent care these people need. Bureaucracy doesn't see them as individuals, but as merely cases. The paperwork alone takes up hours while these people wait for help. The medical condition of the patient must fit into their guidelines even though in most cases, it is already under a physician's care.
The structual Functional Theory would support the idea that if it weren't for the bureaucracy, there would be a higher unemployment rate. Time would have to be used efficiently. Employees employed by the Mental Health Facility would need to become cross-trained to do more than just one job.
The Social Conflict Theory supports the idea that maybe society as a whole may get fed up with the way the Mental Health Facilities doesn't view people as individuals and demand for a change.
The Symbolic Interaction Theory would support the way the Medical Hospitals deal with the Mental Health Facilities. The Medical Hospitals could begin to call on Private Mental Health Facilities for these patients care. That could result in a change of the Government run Mental Health Facilities.