Responding to a British Medical Association FOI request which found there had been a 40 per cent rise in mental health patients sent out of area for treatment, with some travelling more than 500 miles from home for treatment, Dr Ranga Rao, the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ national lead for acute in-patient care, said: “These figures paint a bleak picture of the priorities of health trusts.
“Treating patients out of area can delay recovery so being sent away from their local area for care should only happen in exceptional circumstances.
“All health trusts must urgently analyse the needs of their local services and determine how many hospital beds, crisis teams and community resources they have to meet the demand for acute crisis care.
“Only then will we begin to see sending someone from Somerset to the Highlands as a thing of the past.”
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