Little attention has been paid to psychiatric patients' views on their treatment in the medical literature. We carried out a consumer survey of 99 in-patients at an inner London psychiatric hospital. Patients were asked to rate 10 non-treatment and treatment items. Most highly regarded was being free to leave the ward. Of the treatment items, talking to a member of staff was found to be most helpful. The relationships between different items and patient variables such as voluntary versus involuntary status, age and diagnosis are discussed. Sex and number of previous admissions exerted only minor effects. The results are compared with other studies and more work in this area is recommended in order to improve hospital care.

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