Mental health patients in the UK are suffering as they are increasingly admitted to psychiatric wards far from their homes and families, a new report has found.
The Health Service Safety Investigation Board (HSSIB) report, based on interviews with patients and their loved ones, found that patients were suffering from anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and were unable to work remotely. Some people reportedly died by suicide as a result. thing. Participants described how their experiences caused feelings of anger, frustration, and loss of trust in the mental health system.
Senior safety researcher Neil Alexander said “urgent improvements” were needed to reduce harm to patients.
He said: “The reality is that patients need treatment and in some cases it is considered safer to admit them to an inpatient ward or ward.
“But sadly, as our research has shown, the harm caused to patients when traveling far from home or traveling back and forth between sites can be distressing for both patients and their families. There is a gender.
“The inquiry highlighted that inadequate out-of-area placements are a symptom of wider problems in health and social care: financial and resource pressures, long waiting lists for social housing and It’s a lack of true integration.”
The report highlights “inadequate” placements, where patients are sent far away not because they need specialist services but because there is not enough space locally.
There was a “national ambition” set by the government before the coronavirus pandemic to reduce out-of-area referrals, including a target to eliminate their use by 2021. However, data shows that overall out-of-area referrals are steadily increasing. : In March 2023 there were 793 jobs available, a year later there were almost 900 across England.
Dr Leila McKay, director of policy at the NHS Confederation, said mental health providers were “almost on the verge of abolishing adult out-of-area intake before the pandemic”. But then there was a huge spike in demand across the sector, demand outpaced production capacity, and demand started to increase again. ”
He added that reducing out-of-area care provision “is not only beneficial for patients but could also lead to significant savings”, adding that these pressures are driving the spending review and NHS 10-year strategy. He said he hoped it would be addressed.
The HSSIB report found that out-of-area placements can prolong patients’ hospital stays and therefore harm them. Being far away from support networks can cause anxiety, and being detained and transported can cause PTSD. The report also found that hospitals often fail to monitor patients sent out of the region, missing opportunities to bring patients back into the neighborhood when beds become available.
Patients, families, and carers feel that their choices and opinions are not documented or taken into account when making out-of-community placement decisions, and advocacy support is not provided. Research has shown that there are many.
The agencies told investigators that sending people outside the region may be the only option for people who are acutely unwell if there are no available beds in local hospitals, and that “if you are unwell, “This may be preferable to someone remaining in a potentially dangerous situation to the community,” he said. However, they noted that prior autism and ADHD evaluations could reduce the number of people inappropriately admitted to psychiatric inpatient units.
One patient interviewed for the report said she experienced PTSD because she was “taken away in handcuffs in the middle of the night and no one explained why,” and that her parents He added that the child was “treated like a criminal.” ”.
Another said his family could not afford to travel from the north of England to the south. “We will really miss you and be sad,” they said.
