switzerland and the united kingdom with comparatively long hospitalisation durations have also experienced a strong decrease in the past few years converging to the averages in other countries some countries eg norway or denmark have exceedingly short stays with a mean length below five days pointing to fundamental differences between countries regarding their mental health care strategies furthermore a cochrane metaanalysis in did not find increased readmission risks of planned shortterm admissions of patients with severe mental illnesses johnstone and zolese