Patients at risk due to cuts in mental health services
- 27 Jun
Doctor tells British Medical Association that cuts are to blame for avoidable deaths and suicides.
The British Medical Association's annual meeting has been told that mental health services are in a critical state due to significant cuts.
In the past three years mental health services across England have had to cut beds by 9% with one trust spending thousands of pounds putting patients up in bed and breakfast accommodation, due to no beds being available, reports the Guardian.
Dr Andrew Collier, co-chair of the BMA junior doctors committee, said: "The services we provide are under increased stress. But at the very time people need support most, mental health services are being cut. Recent freedom of information requests have shown that since 2011 at least 1,700 mental health beds have been closed. That represents a 9% reduction in the number of available beds. Time and again we're told that when beds are cut it's part of an overall strategy to invest in better, improved services but I'm beginning to think that's not the case. The situation is now so bad that a quarter of junior doctors working in psychiatry have been told that unless the patient is subject to the Mental Health Act, a bed won't be found.''
He said that patients often had to travel huge distances to find care. "One mental health trust has even spent £345,000 to put patients in bed and breakfast services simply because there are no beds. The constant fire-fighting due to the abysmal shortages we face has got to end. If the government is serious about achieving parity of esteem for mental health services these damaging cuts and closures must stop now."
Dr Jason Holdcroft, a psychiatry trainee, said he had seen "ever-growing" strain on services over the last four years. Faced for much of the time with a chronic shortage of beds, community teams are forced to manage ever more unwell patients at home with dwindling resources. In trying to free up beds more quickly there is pressure on in-patient teams to discharge patients as early as possible into the care of community mental health teams who may have lost their occupational therapist, their psychologist, and often a proportion of their nurses too. The end result of all of this is sometimes tragedy - avoidable deaths and suicides where the system has not provided the care that patients need."
What do you think of this? Tweet us your comments @suppsolutions
Related articles
- 11 Sep
People in Bedfordshire can find mental health support through an audio guide
The guides have been written by clinical psychologists and are available to download in print or listen to as an audio file, reports Bedfordshire News.Dr Judy Baxter, Clinical Director with BCCG and...
- 10 Sep
Police officers in Dorset to receive mental health training
The partnership with the University comes as part of the county’s Mental Health Street Triage Project. It is hoped to equip officers with improved knowledge and skills to assess members of the...
- 09 Sep
People in Peterborough can refer themselves for mental health services
Through a drive to offer support to more people and ease pressure on doctors, people living in Peterborough can self-refer themselves to mental health services, reports Peterborough Today.Dr Adrian...
- 08 Sep
The first mental health centre for men
The site has been set up by Alex Eaton, whose dad took his own life and has suffered with mental health problems himself, in Burton upon Trent, reports BBC Newsbeat.Mr Eaton said: "We are the only...
- 07 Sep
NHS trust told no mental health beds available
Dr Bohdan Solomka has said that on Sunday a lack of beds were applied across the NHS and among private providers, reports the BBC. The director of the Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trusts...
- 07 Sep
Over 16,000 mental health referrals for young people have been rejected
Between July last year and June this year, data from the NHS has found that Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services rejected 5,396 referrals, reports STV News.Over the last three years 16,565...
- 04 Sep
New mental health centre to open in Ardwick
Plans to build a new £6m treatment and recovery centre in Manchester have been revealed. It will be built in Ardwick and be run by Alternative Futures Group, reports the Manchester Evening...
- 03 Sep
Research finds more chance of re-offending if mental health issues are present
Research has found that ex-prisoners with mental health problems and drug and alcohol misuse are more likely to commit violent offences after release than other former prisoners, reports the...
- 02 Sep
Drop in the number of people with mental health issues held in cells
Recent figures have found that the Crisis Care Concordat has seen over 10,000 people receive care from mental health nurses with the support from police officers, reports the Burton Mail.Figures have...
- 02 Sep
Mental health social work scheme accepting applications
100 places are now available for applicants who have a 2:1 or above undergraduate degree and can demonstrate attributes such as resilience and empathy, reports Community Care.The Think Ahead...
How to fund Housing Support and Social Care Services "Alot of information in a short time, good for me because I travelled a long way. So I feel the journey was worthwhile." C.T - People First Dorset
