PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Compulsorily Detained Psychiatric Patients (6 February 2018)

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase the number of specialist mental health places available for those people sectioned under the Mental Health Act 1983.

Asked by:
Mr James Frith (Labour)

For mother and baby units NHS England is on track to deliver against the commitment of a 49% increase in beds by 2020 in line with investment plans.

For Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services Tier 4 services NHS England has committed to commission an additional 150-180 beds to support historically underserved areas.

NHS England’s programme of work implementing the Five Year Forward View for Mental Health is based on local services being commissioned to provide patients with timely access to evidence-based care as early as possible and as close to home as possible where appropriate. This early care should prevent patients’ conditions deteriorating to the point where they need detention under the Mental Health Act 1983.

This programme includes enhancing the provision of crisis resolution and home treatment teams and wider community mental health services. NHS England and NHS Improvement’s major programme to support areas to eliminate non-specialist acute out-of-area placements for adults by 2020/21 is based on the need to focus on whole system capacity management and alternatives to admission, such as home treatment, in light of the reducing reliance on inpatient beds, supported by £400 million investment in crisis resolution and home treatment teams by 2020/21.

Answered by:
Dame Jackie Doyle-Price (Conservative)
9 February 2018