Are we providing a good service for people with chronic schizophrenia

of the Nation strategy is to improve the health and social functioning of mentally ill people. Most health service professionals would agree with the implication that there is substantial room for improvement. It is as important to be aware of the extent to which a service is failing as it is to know that needs are being met. The obvious answer to the question in the title is to ask the patients themselves, and also the informal carers (there is no consensus on preferred terminology, the terms 'carer' and 'patient' are