More than 5,000 mental health patients sent over 62 miles for treatment

More than 5,000 mental health patients have been sent at least 62 miles from home for treatment in the two years since ministers pledged to banish the “dangerous” practice.

The disclosure prompted calls for the “scandal” of out of area placements in mental health care to end, with claims that it represents “another broken government promise on the NHS”.

Chronic shortages of mental health beds have for years forced the health service in England to send hundreds of patients a month to be admitted for care, sometimes a long way from their own area.

Mental health campaigners, psychiatrists and patients’ families have argued that being far from home can make already vulnerable patients feel isolated, deprive them of regular visits from relatives, increase the risk of self-harm and reduce their chances of making a recovery.

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Source: The Guardian, 21 June 2023