Mental health services have ‘considerable room for improvement’
pharmafile | September 28, 2009 | News story | | NHS, hc
The state of England's mental health services has been lambasted in a report from the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
The independent regulator of health and social care in England said too great a proportion of patients felt let down in some important aspects of the care they received.
Ward safety was the biggest concern highlighted, with less than half (45%) of patients saying they "always" felt safe there.
A significant minority – 16% – said they did not feel safe at all while 39% "sometimes" felt safe.
More than 7,500 people recently discharged from acute inpatient mental health services at 64 NHS trusts responded to the CQC survey.
"It is not acceptable for people to feel unsafe in hospital or for them not to be to given basic information about their care and treatment," said CQC chairman Barbara Young.
Only a third of respondents said they were as involved in decisions about their wellbeing as they wanted to be.
"There remains a particular need to ensure that services are focused on meeting the needs of people as individuals," said Young.
"There is considerable room for improvement," she added.
Patients gave their views on each stage of their care from admission through to the support they got after discharge.
Questions covered such issues as care, treatment, what patients did day-to-day while in hospital and their relationships with staff.
A lack of access to counselling was also pointed up in the report, with less than half of the 52% who wanted talking therapies actually receiving them.
Around 27% of patients detained under the Mental Health Act felt they did not have their rights clearly explained to them.
Responding for the government, care services minister Phil Hope insisted it was "good news" that 73% of people in the survey described their care overall as good, very good or excellent.
While emphasising that it was "vital they get the care, support and treatment they need", he sought to contextualise the report.
"It's also important to remember that nearly half of the people who responded to this survey had been detained under the Mental Health Act and had severe mental health problems," he added.
This could have affected how safe they felt, he said.
The CQC is now writing to all trusts covered by the survey and said it would "continue to push for improvement through our assessment and registration systems".
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