Hundreds of mental health patients in England are still being sent to hospitals miles from home due to local bed shortages, more than a year after the NHS pledged to end the practice. NHS data shows that 630 patients were in inappropriate out-of-area placements (OAPs) at the end of August 2022, with more than half sent away that month.
The placements, which the NHS said would end by March 2021, are described as traumatic and costly. Across England, patients spent 191,515 days in such placements in the year to August 2022, though this was a 19% decrease from the previous year. However, 25 trusts reported an increase in OAP days, with 12 recording their highest yet.
One patient, Kelly, was sectioned in 2019 and sent 23 miles from home with only her phone and the clothes she was wearing. She had to rely on hospital-provided basics for three weeks. Another patient, Claire, was sent 80 miles away in 2020, spending 18 months in a private hospital she had never visited. She said she was "terrified" and cut off from her family.
Paul Spencer, head of health policy at the charity Mind, called OAPs "traumatic" and "isolating", adding that patients are cut off from support networks when they need them most. Dr Adrian James, president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, noted that patients sent away from their local area tend to stay in hospital longer, and stressed the importance of community care.
Almost £10 million was spent on inappropriate OAPs in August alone, with 94% of placement days in private facilities. Since the NHS missed its 2020-21 deadline to eliminate the practice, 5,800 patients have been placed inappropriately, costing over £165 million. The government said it was investing an extra £2.3 billion in mental health services, while the NHS said the number of new OAPs has halved in three years, citing pandemic pressures and increased community care.
