Surge in patients sent hundreds of miles for care
The number of people sent out of their home area for a mental health bed – in some cases hundreds of miles away – has increased to a five-year high, despite national ambitions to eliminate the practice.
A 2021 date to stop “inappropriate out of area placements” was initially set by government and NHS England in 2016 but, despite initial reductions, the target was missed, with hundreds of patients still affected each month.
Demand and bed pressures in the wake of covid appeared to make it more difficult and numbers have been rising.
Analysis of the latest NHS Digital data this month shows 825 active inappropriate placements in February 2024 following a steady rise from December 2023, when there were 700 (see chart).
The year on year increase from February last year is 15 per cent, but there has been a 46 per cent rise since a low of 565 just 14 months previously, in December 2022.
Being sent out of area can disrupt the patient’s care, make it less likely patients will be visited, harder for them to return home and to community support, and is also often very expensive as places are bought at short notice from independent providers.
NHSE acknowledged pressures on OAPs in 2024-25 planning guidance but asked systems to “work towards” eliminating them, saying they are “detrimental to patient safety, experience and outcomes.” National mental health director Claire Murdoch last month told HSJ they represented “poor care at relatively high costs.”
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Source: HSJ, 23 May 2024