A quarter of inpatients at mental health trust have Covid

More than one in four inpatients at one of England’s largest mental health trusts were reported as covid-positive this week, according to data seen by HSJ.

Around 160 inpatients across South London and Maudsley (SLAM) Foundation Trust’s sites, or 28% of its total open beds, were reported as positive at the beginning of the week. 

Several other London mental health trusts have seen high rates of covid cases in recent weeks, as there has been enormous spread of the omicron variant in the capital, although rates have not been as high as at SLAM.

SLAM told HSJ that infection rates rose and fell in a reflection of community transmission, with covid-positive people being admitted, and there being spread within inpatient units.

While no wards have been closed and all of the trust’s services are open, visiting was suspended in mid-December due to what the organisation described on its website as a “high number of [covid] outbreaks”.

Several sources in the sector told HSJ there had been widespread omicron outbreaks in mental health units across England. They said the nature of psychiatric wards and use of restraints meant adhering to stringent social distancing measures, in the face of a highly infectious variant, was more difficult than in other settings.

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Source: HSJ, 6 January 2022