More Acute Psychiatric Inpatient Beds

I have been a registered psychiatric nurse for more than twenty years. I am gravely concerned regarding the situation unfolding within our communities and mental health services as a whole.

Times are difficult and I appreciate the need for financial constraint but fear we have gone too far down this road.

Following the suspension of our local psychiatric inpatient unit in 2012 our area has been without sufficient inpatient beds to meet the needs of its community. Consequently people are being placed in intolerably difficult and potentially life threatening situations, as people are discharged prematurely to free up beds, increasing pressure on dwindling community resources. Similarly people are becoming unnecessarily acute symptomatically, prior to admission, necessitating Mental Health Act Assessment, where timely intervention would minimise the need for such measures.

Services are at breaking point and I fear a significant rise in untoward and avoidable incidents were sufficient resources in place.

The lack of adequate inpatient beds is resulting in many of our most vulnerable being hospitalised in an untimely manner, hundreds of miles away from family, friends and the familiarity of local support and services, exacerbating difficulties arising from already fragmented care and a lack of continuity and seamlessness within service provision.

Waiting times for care co-ordination are in excess of 3 months. Something I have never before encountered, leaving people in the community unsupported and without service provision. Timely intervention at the point of referral is critical to recovery, promoting well-being and optimising the efficacy of community based solutions, as alternatives to hospital admission.

My purpose in writing to you is as advocate to those I serve. They are amongst the most vulnerable and I fear, increasingly neglected members of society. I respectfully petition you to bring their plight to the attention of government and support my plea to you, to support the urgent need for adequate inpatient beds, per head of the population. Services are in collapse and otherwise avoidable tragedies are going to become common place.

In the last two years 1291 acute inpatient beds have been c!osed.

Below is a list of individuals within my local authority, who at the time of writing are being accommodated in inpatient wards a great distance away from local facilities. There are 60 such local authorities in England alone:

19 year old hospitalised 85.2 miles away from home.
20 year old hospitalised 83.1 miles away from home.
23 year old hospitalised 48.2 miles away from home.
27 year old hospitalised 75.6 miles away from home.
27 year old hospitalised 76.8 miles away from home.
30 year old hospitalised 105.5 miles away from home.
34 year old hospitalised 222.6miles away from home.
47 year old hospitalised 82.7 miles away from home.
54 year old hospitalised 316.3 miles away from home.
58 year old hospitalised 237.8 miles away from home.
68 year old hospitalised 81.5 miles away from home.
73 year old hospitalised 69 Miles away from home.
93 year old hospitalised 81.2 miles away from home.

My greatest fear is these difficulties are not locally based but reflect a national crisis within the provision of services for those in need of acute psychiatric care.