27.07.17
Lack of beds forces mentally ill children into adult wards
Major concern has been raised about the declining quality of mental health services for children and young people, as it was revealed that overcrowding on children’s wards had led to under-18s spending 2,700 days in adult wards in two months.
In a report from the Education Policy Institute (EPI), it was also revealed that 83 under-18s were treated outside wards for young people between October and December 2016.
The organisation found that over one in 10 (12%) inpatient units fail to meet basic requirements for staff to patient rations, with nearly a quarter of units struggling to employ permanent staff – a rise of seven percentage points since 2014-15.
Researchers also discovered that there was a wide disparity in access to beds across regions. In the north east there were 3.03 per 100,000 people, with this figure dropping to 1.1 per 100,000 people in the south west – the worst rate in the country.
This lack of beds can lead to children being cared for in adult wards, despite the Mental Health Act 2007 stating a duty on care providers to stop this from happening.
And due to a lack of community services, young people were being left in hospital for longer than necessary. Between October 2015 and February this year, children spent around 9,000 days waiting to leave mental health hospitals due to a lack of external support.
“This report highlights the many challenges facing the NHS in ensuring all children with mental health problems can easily access high quality care when they need it,” said EPI director of mental health Emily Frith.
“While the overall quality of care has improved, our research finds inconsistent provision of inpatient services across England, with shortages in the workforce, as well as evidence of basic standards not being met.
“A sustained focus is needed on recruitment to increase capacity in hospital and community services and to continue to improve the quality of care.”
Sarah Brennan, chief executive of the charity Young Minds, argued that it is “deeply distressing” for parents to have a child who is so unwell that they require inpatient care – and that it is even worse when there are no beds available locally.
“When children are placed in units hundreds of miles from their home, parents may only be able to visit them once a week or once a fortnight, because the distances are so far and travel costs so expensive,” she said.
“The work that NHS England is doing to redistribute beds regionally is a move in the right direction, but there is still more to be done.”
Today’s report follows the BMA finding that 70% of children with mental health issues were treated outside of their area due to a lack of beds last year.
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