London: Mentally Ill Children Sent Hundreds Of Miles For Beds: Psychiatrists

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  Press Association - Cuts to mental health services have led to a "bed crisis", psychiatrists warned

Children with mental illnesses are being sent hundreds of miles away from their families just so they can secure a bed space in hospital, psychiatrists have warned.

Cuts to mental health services have led to a "bed crisis", the Royal College of Psychiatrists said.

The shortage has meant that patients are being sent home because of the absence of a bed, or being sectioned just to secure one, according to a poll by the College's Psychiatric Trainees' Committee (PTC).

And many patients, including children, had been sent miles away from their local area just so they could be admitted.

The survey of 576 junior doctors working in psychiatry in the UK found that a quarter had been told by a bed manager that unless their patient ha d been sectioned they would not get a bed.

And 37% said a colleague's decision to detain a patient under the Mental Health Act had been influenced by the fact that doing so might make the provision of a bed more likely.

Seven in 10 said they had experienced difficulty in finding an appropriate bed for a patient at least once. And 83% of those working in services for children and teens had experienced the problem.

Four in five said they had been forced to send a patient outside the local area for a bed, with a third saying they had sent a patient at least 100 miles outside their local area.

For those working with children and teenagers, 22% said they had been forced to send a child 200 miles away from their families just so they could have a bed.

And 28% said they have sent a critically unwell patient home because no bed could be found.

"This survey investigated for the first time the extent of several practices which occur as a result of the bed crisis," said trainee psychiatrist Dr Alex Langford.

"These practices signify serious risk to patients due to a crippling lack of resources.

"The fact that psychiatrists are having to consider sectioning patients to secure something as basic as a bed is a huge warning sign of extreme under-provision. These doctors are using the only option they have left to ensure very unwell people get the care they desperately need.

"The survey shows just how pervasively dangerous the disparity between resourcing in mental health and other medical specialities is."

Professor Sue Bailey, president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, added: "This survey provides further evidence that mental health services are approaching a tipping point.

"Continued cuts to services can only result in further distress and discomfort for patients, many of whom are young, vulnerable, some of whom are forced to receive care far from home. This situation is simply not acceptable."
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Care and Support Minister Norman Lamb said: "I want to build a fairer society with better care for anyone with a mental health problem. That's why we launched the Mental Health Action Plan in January which sets out priorities for improving care. We also published the Crisis Care Concordat which is clear that crisis beds must be available locally. It has teeth because the CQC will inspect against its standards.

"It is not acceptable to detain someone under the Mental Health Act purely because they need an inpatient bed. Decisions about detention must always be taken in the best interests of patients at risk of harming themselves or others.

"Inpatient beds must always be available for those who need them. We are scrutinising local NHS plans to make sure they put mental health on a par with physical health."

Labour's shadow health minister Luciana Berger added: "This survey adds to an alarming picture of what is fast becoming a crisis in our mental health services.

"The Government promised that people with mental health conditions would be given the same level of service as those with physical conditions yet, on their watch, mental health beds are being cut, people are waiting too long for vital services, staff are under pressure and some of the NHS's most vulnerable patients are being turned away from the help that they need.

"This situation cannot continue. The Government must take responsibility and urgently get to grips with this unacceptable failure before more lives are put at risk."