Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Markham on 12 March (HL3021), what is the distribution of each category of commissioned mental health service bed into each integrated care board area.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England does not hold this data at an integrated care board level.
Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many (1) high secure, (2) medium secure, and (3) low secure, mental health service beds are in each integrated care board area of England.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The following table shows the amount of mental health service beds available, broken down by security level, as well as when the data was last validated:
Specialised Mental Health Inpatient Services | Commissioned Beds | Last Validated |
Adult High Secure | 715 | October 2022 |
Adult Medium Secure | 2965 | March 2021 |
Adult Low Secure | 3003 | March 2021 |
Total | 6683 | N/A |
Source: NHS England.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to identify suitable long-term placements for people who are detained under the Mental Health Act 1983 who could live in the community with additional support.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Statutory guidance will be published for those being discharged from mental health inpatient settings soon. This will set out how National Health Service bodies and local authorities can work together to support the discharge process from hospital and ensure the right support in the community.
In July 2022, we published the Building the Right Support (BtRS) Action Plan, which sets out cross-government actions to strengthen community support and reduce reliance on mental health inpatient care for autistic people and people with a learning disability. The BtRS Delivery Board is overseeing implementation of the Action Plan and includes representatives from across Government and public services who are working together to drive faster progress, identifying new actions and mitigations as appropriate.
This year, we are investing an additional £121 million to improve community support as part of the NHS Long Term Plan, including funding for children and young people’s keyworkers.
The draft Mental Health Bill, published in June 2022, proposes the introduction of a new power, Supervised Discharge, which aims is to stop criminal justice patients detained under the Mental Health Act with specialised support needs from being in hospital unnecessarily. This will provide a route for these individuals to continue their care in a more appropriate and therapeutic setting, while appropriately managing the risks they may pose.
Meanwhile HM Prison & Probation Service, acting on behalf of my rt. hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Justice, takes decisions on applications for section 17 leave for criminal justice patients following a robust risk-based assessment. This ensures affected patients do not need to remain in hospital beds and can continue their rehabilitation in a community-based setting which balances the need to protect the public, whilst recognising the rights of patients to receive treatment under the Mental Health Act.
Asked by: Richard Burgon (Labour - Leeds East)
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 ensure that the average ambulance response time to category two incidents is at least 30 minutes by the 2023-24 financial year.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Our ‘Delivery plan for recovering urgent and emergency care services’ aims to reduce Category 2 response times to 30 minutes on average this year with further improvements towards pre-pandemic levels next year.
To grow capacity and improve response times, ambulance services are receiving £200 million of additional funding this year. This is alongside over 800 new dual-crewed ambulances and specialist mental health vehicles.
The delivery plan will also add 5,000 more permanent hospital beds this winter, supported by £1 billion of dedicated funding. This is alongside £1.6 billion of funding for social care to reduce the numbers of beds occupied by patients ready to be discharged. These measures will improve patient flow through hospitals, reducing crowding in accident and emergency and cutting down on delays in ambulances handing over patients so they can quickly get back on the roads.
We have seen significant improvements in performance, with average Category 2 response times in September over 10 minutes faster than the same month last year.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
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 reduce the number of (a) children and (b) young adults placed on adult psychiatric wards.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
We recognise that for some young people, admission to hospital will not be the most appropriate way to meet their needs. The overall strategy is therefore to reduce reliance on inpatient mental health beds for children and young people with a severe mental illness.
The model of provision of National Health Service-funded inpatient treatment for children and young people is being reviewed and re-designed to support the move to a community-based provision, where children and young people are able to access appropriate support in a timely, effective and patient-centred way, close to home and in the least restrictive environment.
This transition is being supported by the introduction of provider collaboratives to support place-based commissioning and to develop local services that meet the needs of their communities. Options may include increased day provision and the new model will see a change to how inpatient environments are best utilised.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment has he made of the effectiveness of the level 4 gateway referral process to support children with mental health needs.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
NHS England continually assesses the effectiveness of children and young people’s Tier 4 mental health services. The National Health Service is working to reduce reliance on inpatient beds and to have fewer young people being detained under the Mental Health Act. To support this, the model of inpatient care is being reviewed and re-designed to support the move to a community-based provision of care, where children and young people can access appropriate support in a timely, effective, and patient-centred way, close to home and in the least restrictive environment.
NHS England is also committed to developing a national Tier 4 admission protocol for children and young people with multi-agency partners, which will seek to address the need for improvement and consistency in practice when identifying the clinical suitability of admission to hospital, the checks and balances required prior to making referral for a Mental Health Act assessment and promotion of the least restrictive practice principle across services. The national protocol is due to be completed by summer 2023.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many beds were available in designated mental health facilities for children suffering from autism in England as of 11 May 2023.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
NHS England is committed to improving health and care services so that more people with a learning disability and autistic people can live in the community, with the right support, and close to home.
There are 75 mental health units for children and young people and all these units can provide care and treatment for autistic young people. Reasonable adjustments should be considered for all autistic people who are admitted to inpatient mental health services. NHS England has also published the sensory friendly resource pack that gives guidance about healthcare environments being suitable for autistic people which is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/sensory-friendly-resource-pack/
As of 12 May 2023, the number of beds available exceeded the number of children and young people awaiting an assessment or admission to a specialist mental health inpatient unit. However, before admitting a child or young person a number of factors including what treatment may be required, complexity within the unit, patient mix, distance from home/family, Care Quality Commission rating and staffing capacity amongst others must be considered to ensure the admission is in the best interests of the young person and their family.
In January, NHS England published the co-produced Dynamic support register and Care (Education) and Treatment Review policy which focuses on local systems being able to identify people with increasing health and care needs who may require extra support, care and treatment in the community as a safe and effective alternative to admission to a mental health hospital, and ensuring that Care, Education and Treatment Reviews continue to be effective in ensuring people are receiving appropriate care and treatment.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the availability of mental health units for children with autism in England.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
NHS England is committed to improving health and care services so that more people with a learning disability and autistic people can live in the community, with the right support, and close to home.
There are 75 mental health units for children and young people and all these units can provide care and treatment for autistic young people. Reasonable adjustments should be considered for all autistic people who are admitted to inpatient mental health services. NHS England has also published the sensory friendly resource pack that gives guidance about healthcare environments being suitable for autistic people which is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/sensory-friendly-resource-pack/
As of 12 May 2023, the number of beds available exceeded the number of children and young people awaiting an assessment or admission to a specialist mental health inpatient unit. However, before admitting a child or young person a number of factors including what treatment may be required, complexity within the unit, patient mix, distance from home/family, Care Quality Commission rating and staffing capacity amongst others must be considered to ensure the admission is in the best interests of the young person and their family.
In January, NHS England published the co-produced Dynamic support register and Care (Education) and Treatment Review policy which focuses on local systems being able to identify people with increasing health and care needs who may require extra support, care and treatment in the community as a safe and effective alternative to admission to a mental health hospital, and ensuring that Care, Education and Treatment Reviews continue to be effective in ensuring people are receiving appropriate care and treatment.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of mental health facilities are suitable for children with autism.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
NHS England is committed to improving health and care services so that more people with a learning disability and autistic people can live in the community, with the right support, and close to home.
There are 75 mental health units for children and young people and all these units can provide care and treatment for autistic young people. Reasonable adjustments should be considered for all autistic people who are admitted to inpatient mental health services. NHS England has also published the sensory friendly resource pack that gives guidance about healthcare environments being suitable for autistic people which is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/sensory-friendly-resource-pack/
As of 12 May 2023, the number of beds available exceeded the number of children and young people awaiting an assessment or admission to a specialist mental health inpatient unit. However, before admitting a child or young person a number of factors including what treatment may be required, complexity within the unit, patient mix, distance from home/family, Care Quality Commission rating and staffing capacity amongst others must be considered to ensure the admission is in the best interests of the young person and their family.
In January, NHS England published the co-produced Dynamic support register and Care (Education) and Treatment Review policy which focuses on local systems being able to identify people with increasing health and care needs who may require extra support, care and treatment in the community as a safe and effective alternative to admission to a mental health hospital, and ensuring that Care, Education and Treatment Reviews continue to be effective in ensuring people are receiving appropriate care and treatment.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the availability of Tier 4 beds in (a) England, (b) York and (c) North Yorkshire; and whether he plans to take steps to increase the number of beds available.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
NHS England continually assess the adequacy of children and young people’s Tier 4 mental health services, including in the Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board area. The National Health Service is working to reduce reliance on inpatient beds and to have fewer young people being detained under the Mental Health Act. To support this, the model of inpatient care is being reviewed and re-designed to support the move to a community-based provision of care, where children and young people are able to access appropriate support in a timely, effective, and patient-centred way, close to home and in the least restrictive environment.
NHS England is committed to developing a national Tier 4 admission protocol for children and young people with multi-agency partners, which will seek to address the need for improvement and consistency in practice when identifying the clinical suitability of admission to hospital, the checks and balances required prior to making referral for a Mental Health Act assessment and promotion of the least restrictive practice principle across services. The national protocol is due to be completed by summer 2023.