Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve the (a) standard and (b) capacity of NHS crisis and inpatient services.

The Five Year Forward View for Mental Health set out an ambitious plan to improve mental health services up to 2020/21 and includes commitments to invest in mental health crisis and acute care. This includes:

- more than £400 million for crisis resolution and home treatment teams (CRHTTs) to ensure that people across the country are able to access a 24/7 community based crisis response and intensive home treatment as a safe and effective alternative to hospital admission;

- £249 million for liaison mental health services in every acute hospital, ensuring that at least 50% of acute hospitals have dedicated on-site 24 hours/seven days provision; and

- £30 million to provide more places of safety for people who may experience a mental health crisis and to eliminate the use of police cells as place of safety.

NHS England is also leading a programme to introduce standards for acute care services over the next five years, including elimination of inappropriate out of area placements for people requiring acute inpatient admission.

NHS England is consulting until 30 September on the development of the long-term plan for the NHS over the next ten years, which includes mental health as a clinical priority. Further information is available at the following link:

https://www.engage.england.nhs.uk/consultation/developing-the-long-term-plan-for-the-nhs/