Mental health patients with nowhere to go cost NHS £71m in England, report finds

A lack of supported housing was the biggest reason for delayed discharges from mental health hospitals in England last year, costing the NHS about £71m, according to a report.

Analysis from the National Housing Federation (NHF) found that in 2023-24 there were 109,029 days of delayed discharge because mental health patients were waiting for supported housing, and the number of people stuck in hospital as a result of housing-related issues had more than tripled since 2021.

In September 2024, waiting for supported housing was the single biggest reason mental health patients, fit for discharge, were unable to leave, accounting for 17% of all delays. This lack led to a strain on NHS capacity and a rise in patients being sent out of area for hospital admission, the report found.

Rhys Moore, director of public impact at the NHF, said: “Not only are tens of thousands of people, who deserve the opportunity to live a healthy, happy and independent life, being failed, but the shortage of these homes is increasing pressure on public services, increasing homelessness, and costing the NHS and ultimately the taxpayer more in the long run.”

A man in his 30s, who asked to remain anonymous, had struggled with drug addiction issues and was evicted shortly before he was admitted to a mental health hospital ward where he spent a number of weeks.

“I feel like I’m much better off in here than in hospital,” he said. “[The hospital] felt like I was all right. The way we were talking, I could tell they thought, you’re wasting my bed, you don’t need to be here. But I had been evicted, I had nowhere to go.

“I was really struggling in there, it was noisy and stressful at times. Living here, I feel like I can breathe and start getting myself back together again.”

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Source: The Guardian, 11 February 2025