Responding to the Royal College of Psychiatrists' analysis on mental health out of area placements, the interim chief executive of NHS Providers, Saffron Cordery said:

"Placing patients out of area is a last resort for trusts. It happens as a result of a lack of services and beds, due to sustained underinvestment and staff shortages.

"It is unacceptable that trusts do not have the resource they need to stop this happening, and this lack of investment underlines stigma around mental health. We would not allow this to happen routinely for physical health and we know it leads to a poorer patient experience and often slower recovery.

"But despite the challenges trusts are facing, they are working hard to limit the number of out of area placements and we have seen welcome progress.

"While any out of area placement is one too many, the latest data shows that there has been improvement in the number both in the last month and when compared to the same time last year, and also 20% fewer than pre-pandemic."