Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what constitutes an 'out of area' placement for an adult acute mental health inpatient, specifically whether it is defined by geography or by the institution the patient is referred to.

For the purposes of data collection, NHS England defines an out of area placement for adult acute mental health inpatient care as happening when ‘a person with assessed acute mental health needs who requires adult mental health acute inpatient care, is admitted to a unit that does not form part of their usual local network of services. By this we mean an inpatient unit that does not usually admit people living in the catchment of the person’s local community mental health service, and where the person cannot be visited regularly by their care co-ordinator to ensure continuity of care and effective discharge planning’.