This story was first published in digitalhealth.net
Mental health services search ‘unacceptable’, report suggests
According to the Independent Commission, chaired by ex-NHS chief executive Lord Nigel Crisp, the practice of sending mentally ill adults in England long distances for care services is unacceptable and must end.
The study found that around 500 patients travel more than 30 miles to access care each month, due to acute inpatients beds or services being unavailable in local areas.
The report recommends that from October 2017, no acutely ill patient should have to travel long distances to receive care. It also proposes that a maximum four hour wait for acute psychiatric care in hospital or the community after an initial assessment should be introduced.
The plans are part of a wider aim to guarantee that patients with mental health problems are treated equally to those with physical issues.
Professor Sir Simon Wessely, President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCP), said: "Everyone agrees that it is a scandal that patients with serious mental disorders who need admission can end up being sent anywhere from Cornwall to Cumbria in a search for a bed. And yet it continues.
"The answers lie not in just providing more beds, although there are definitely places where that might help in the short term, but assessing the entire system."
The report also claimed that care of severely ill adult mental health patients was, in some cases, potentially dangerous, with the most common problem being unable to find a suitable bed, leading to delayed admissions and the risk patients could pose to themselves and the public because they are not able to receive inpatient care.
The Commission outlined cases when staff were forced to move patients form ward to ward or discharge them early in order to free up beds.
Alistair Burt, Minister for Mental Health, said the report would help to shape planned changes to build a better mental health service.
He said: "NHS England will soon be publishing its independent Mental Health Taskforce report, back by the £1 billion investment announced by the prime minister earlier this year."
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