Mental health patients are being harmed by ‘inappropriate’ out of area placements, says the Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB).

Meanwhile three in five leaders of mental health and learning disability NHS trusts are very worried about winter pressures on services, according to an NHS Providers survey. 

Saffron Cordery, deputy chief executive, NHS Providers, said:

"Trusts send patients out of their local areas for care only when they have no other choice due to a lack of beds, capacity or staff. It’s always a last resort.

"Stretched NHS mental health services are under pressure like never before with record demand. We share the HSSIB’s concerns about ‘inappropriate’ out of area placements. Years of underinvestment in mental health services mean that trusts don’t have enough resources and staff to prevent every inappropriate out of area placement.  In the last 18 months the number of out of area placements has fluctuated but despite huge challenges trusts and their partners do everything they can to keep the number as low as possible.

"We need to see more investment to improve mental health provision so that people everywhere can access high-quality services, as close to home as possible, when they need them."