What do forensic psychiatrists do?
Most forensic psychiatrists are based in medium secure units located near major towns or cities. These provide a highly staffed environment where potentially dangerous patients can be assessed and treated. Patients generally come from prison, high secure hospitals, or general psychiatric wards. The inpatient work of consultant forensic psychiatrists involves planning and overseeing patient care, an important emphasis being the balance between treatment and security needs. Outpatient work, in prisons and the community, centres on assessing offenders for the court, prison medical service, general psychiatrists, or other agencies. As well as advising on suitability for formal psychiatric treatment, reports often address wider issues such as risk to the public, mitigation, and medicolegal conundrums. Some forensic psychiatrists work in one of the four high secure hospitals in Britain (Ashworth, Broadmoor, Rampton, and Carstairs). This work is more focused on inpatient work, although consul
