Mental health patients being sent to "inhumane" hospital beds away from their families cost the NHS in the North East and Yorkshire a staggering £1.7m in March.
That's according to the latest figures released by NHS Digital - which also show that there were 3,060 "bed days" recorded in the region where a patient was sent "out of area". This comes as the Royal College of Psychiatrists called the failure to end the use of out of area placements "a scandal".
A report in 2016 from the independent Mental Health Taskforce to the NHS in England stated that by 2020/21 out-of-area placements would essentially be eliminated for acute mental health care for adults. This target has not been achieved.
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According to board papers for the Cumbria, Northumberland Tyne and Wear (CNTW) NHS Trust and the Tees Esk and Wear Valleys (TEWV) NHS Trust - which provide inpatient mental health care in our area - each trust had more than 700 days worth of out-of-area placements in the first three months of this year.
CNTW describe having had 234 "inappropriate adult out of area bed days due to the unavailability of adult acute and adult older persons beds" in March. The figures for January and February were 258 and 350 - adding up to a total of 842. Meanwhile TEWV's most recent report highlights "701 days spent by patients in beds away from their closest hospital" across the three months.
Both trusts are aiming to address this issue in the 2022-2023 financial year.
An out-of-area placement is defined as when a person assessed with acute mental health needs and who requires inpatient care "is admitted to a unit that does not form part of their usual local network of services". This often means a person cannot be visited regularly by the person in charge of their care - and heartbreakingly means they could be hundreds of miles from home.
At the end of March, according to NHS Digital, there were 90 "active" out-of area placements in the North East and Yorkshire. Of those, 35 patients had been in beds away from home for more than 31 nights, with 5 having been in that position for more than 90 nights. There were also 10 occasions where a patient was 300km or more away from home.
These figures are by no means unique to our area - across England at the end of March there were 670 patients in the same situation. Over the month, this has cost the NHS around the country more than £10m. The RCP has called this "inhumane" and demanded the money is better spent.
It said being far from home, and without friends and family able to visit, can leave patients feeling isolated and emotionally distressed with long-lasting consequences for their mental health. The college said the health service spent £102 million on inappropriate out-of-area placements last year, adding that was equivalent to the cost of the annual salary of over 900 consultant psychiatrists.
The reason for doing so is due to a lack of properly staffed beds or alternative provision, the RCP said. Dr Adrian James, its president, said: "The failure to eliminate inappropriate out-of-area placements is a scandal. It is inhumane and is costing the NHS millions of pounds each year that could be spent helping patients get better.
"No-one with a mental illness should have to travel hundreds of miles away from home to get the treatment they desperately need. The health and social care system, both on a national and local level, must urgently come together and make sure no-one ever has to."
He said there was a need for central government backing to "address the workforce crisis" plaguing mental health services. Sean Duggan chief executive of the NHS Confederation’s Mental Health Network, also called for the NHS to be given "the staff and estates it needs to get progress on eradicating out-of-area placements back on track".
Both mental health NHS Trusts referred ChronicleLive to the Department of Health and Social Care for a response. A DHSC spokesperson said Covid-related pressures had contributed to missing the 2021 target.
They added: "Everyone should have access to safe, appropriate mental health care and we recognise the impact that receiving care far away from loved ones can have. That’s why we are investing an extra £2.3 billion per year to transform NHS mental health services by 2024, meaning more people will be able to receive care as close to home as possible."
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