Patients at risk in ‘crumbling’ mental health wards

New data has revealed that patient safety is at risk in ‘crumbling’ NHS mental health hospitals in desperate need of funding to improve dilapidated buildings.

Hundreds of vulnerable mentally ill patients are still being cared for in 350 old dormitory-style wards, two decades after the NHS was told to provide all patients with en-suite rooms. The research also found that funding shortfalls have meant that too many wards still have ligature points that patients can use to try to harm themselves.

A briefing from NHS Providers, Mental health services: meeting the need for capital investment, sets out findings from a survey of mental health trust leaders and warns that, for 27 per cent of mental health trusts, funding allocated for capital investment would not even meet half of their current need.

Furthermore, two thirds of trusts estimate that they need between £50 million and £150 million of capital investment over the next five to ten years. One trust requires just over half a billion pounds to address maintenance and transform services to meet the needs of patients.

More than one in five trusts have faced enforcement action from Care Quality Commission (CQC) over the condition of facilities and the impact on quality and safety of patient care in the last three years. However, a number of trusts are not able to access the funding required to make these improvements. Two trusts warned that they are unable to meet over 70 per cent of the costs necessary to address CQC's safety concerns.

Saffron Cordery, deputy chief executive of NHS Providers, said: “We have warned repeatedly of the risks of neglecting investment in NHS mental health facilities. Vulnerable patients are being placed at increased risk because the facilities they need are no longer fit for purpose to deliver the specialist care they deserve. It is not acceptable that dormitory-style wards are still used when all evidence points to the fact they can do more harm than good to those patients. On top of this, it is hugely demoralising to staff who are working flat out to provide the best care they can despite the environment in which they are working.

“We also see the system struggle to bring down out of area placements because of a lack of access to facilities. Receiving treatment, for extended periods of time, away from home and support networks, can be a very distressing and challenging experience for these patients and their families. If we mean what we say as we set out to deliver a relationship of equals between physical and mental health, we need to match it with action and investment. We need to see trusts have access to capital investment over the longer term if we are to rebuild and upgrade our services to meet the growing demand for mental health services.”