New A&E models may increase 'discrimination’ against some patients

The development of separate emergency units to help acute trusts manage demand during the covid pandemic may risk increasing “discrimination” against mental health patients, a royal college has warned.

In a report shared with HSJ, the Royal College of Psychiatrists said separate emergency assessment units being set up by mental health trusts offered a calmer environment for mental health patients and reduced pressure on emergency departments.

But the report, based on 54 survey responses from liaison psychiatry teams, also warned there was a “potential to increase the stigmatisation of mental illness by emergency department staff”.

It added: “Within a general hospital there is a risk that prejudicial attitudes amongst staff translate into discriminatory behaviour towards patients. The provision of a separate mental health emergency assessment facility on another site may reinforce the erroneous view that the assessment and management of mental health problems is not a role for an emergency department.”

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Source: HSJ, 11 August 2020