Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many patients have died whilst under the care of inpatient children and adolescent mental health services since January 2013.

Since January 2013, the National Health Service has reported 17 deaths of patients under the care of inpatient children and young people’s mental health services. Following the written statement to Parliament by the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Public Health and Innovation (Nicola Blackwood) on 20 January 2017 (HCWS 427), all deaths of patients under the care of inpatient children and young people’s mental health services are reported to Ministers and the National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness which will include the figures in its annual reports.

Patient safety is a key priority for this Government and we published Learning from Deaths guidance to the NHS in 2017 to improve the way the NHS investigates and learns from deaths to prevent future tragedies. My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care also announced a zero suicide ambition for mental health inpatients in January this year, which is supported by £25 million of investment, so that every mental health provider of NHS services has a zero suicide policy in place.