explain the patients/family members/relatives about the contents of the prescription, dosage of the medicines, interval at which the medicines were to be taken, how relapse of mental illness could be prevented through better drug compliance and so on. Suggestions · The drugs were issued to OPD patients only for 15 days at a time. As a consequence of such a policy there was a high risk of relapse of mental illness due to non availability of these drugs at the district/sub divisional hospitals or at the PHC as well inability of BPL patients to make frequent trips to the hospital to collect their medicine due to their financial problems and absence of any public policy of recommending cases of BPL patients for free/concessional travel by rail/bus. Government Hospital for Mental Care (GHMC), Vishakhapatnam (30th and 31st March, 2009) There was a separate reception counter manned by a senior staff member of the hospital and two ward boys to receive and guide patients and their family members accompanying them. The waiting space in OPD comprising of three to four big verandas with benches and PVC moulded chairs kept in neat and orderly manner was big enough to accommodate about 100 patients/family members at a time. The other facilities provided in the OPD included cool drinking water, ceiling fans, wall fans and toilets but there was no provision of local newspapers and television set in the OPD. A staff nurse and a head nurse was posted at the registration counter to register cases of mentally ill persons coming to OPD. There were 12 consultation rooms for OPD patients and an observation room to keep violent and aggressive patients after administering sedative till such time they become normal to get examined and receive treatment at the OPD. The average waiting time in the OPD had reduced substantially due to deployment of additional doctors drawn from other institutions to attend to the increasing number of outpatients at peak hours. The staff nurse at the drug dispensing unit was dispensing the prescribed drugs to the patients within five minutes. There was no EEG machine for brain mapping. The number of beds in the recovery room attached to ECT room was much less than the number of patients who had been administered ECT every day. The hospital had been running Community Psychiatric Services at Mother Teresa Home, Prema Samajam and Central Prison, Vizag besides holding identification camps for the physically and orthopaedically disabled on behalf of the Disabled Welfare Department. One psychiatrist of the hospital used to visit these Homes every month to render medical services and distribute medicines free of cost. Monthly visits were also being made to the Central Prison, Vizag to provide necessary follow-up treatment to the inmates and distribute free medicines. Care and Treatment in Mental Health Institutions– Some Glimpses in the Recent Period 37