02.02.15
Bed shortage for young mental health patients at breaking point
The lack of acute beds available to young mental health patients has ‘left the system at breaking point’ and led to NHS England issuing advice to hospital trusts to adopt ‘emergency procedures’ over the weekend.
On Friday evening, instructions sent by NHS England to trusts, leaked to the Observer, stated that the shortage of beds for young mental health patients is now so serious that 16- and 17-year-olds, who should be admitted to specialist child adolescent mental health facilities, are likely instead to be admitted to adult wards.
This is despite the Mental Health Act 1983 stipulating that 16- and 17-year-olds should only be admitted to adult wards in a “crisis situation” and for a short period.
Illustrating the scale of the problem, the Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCP) said that the system is at breaking point, and patients are being put at serious risk as a result.
“The college’s position is very clear – everyone who requires an acute mental health bed should be able to access one in their local NHS trust area,” said RCP president Simon Wessely.
In response to the leaked email, Luciana Berger MP, Labour’s shadow public health minister, said it was “utterly appalling” that some of the most vulnerable children and young people may not have received the help they needed this weekend because there were no beds available for them.
She blamed £50m of cuts to children’s mental health services in the last five years.
However, NHS England said: “Since August last year we’ve opened an extra 46 beds for children with the most severe mental health needs.
“Many need this care so while beds are available we have asked services to ensure they have plans in place for any young person with mental health problems to receive the right care, in the right place at the right time to suit their individual needs.”
Sarah Brennan, head of the charity YoungMinds, said: “It is unacceptable that children and young people are being placed on adult wards which is completely inappropriate for them, and which the Mental Health Act rightly says should not happen.
“This is not only a question of lack of available beds. It is a question about why so many children and young people are needing in-patient care in the first place."
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