Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve conditions in psychiatric hospitals.

In January 2025, the Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB) concluded its series of investigations into mental health inpatient settings. These identified ways we can improve mental health care, protect patients and the public, and create a safe working environment for staff. The HSSIB’s findings have been published in a series of reports, and we will formally respond to all the recommendations for the Department in due course.

Additionally, NHS England is taking forward its mental health, learning disability, and autism inpatient quality transformation programme to support cultural change and a reimagined model of care for the future in inpatient settings. Local health systems have now published their three-year plans for localising and realigning inpatient care in line with this vision.

As part of our plans to improve the mental health estate, we have invested over £560 million between 2020/21 and 2024/25 to eradicate dormitories in mental health facilities and give patients the privacy of their own ensuite bedroom. As of April 2025, 973 beds, out of a total of approximately 1,360, have been replaced and over 1,000 single rooms opened across over 40 sites.