NHS Confederation responds to report on mental health inpatient settings

Responding to the new overarching report on mental health inpatient settings from the Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB), Rebecca Gray, mental health director at the NHS Confederation, said:

“This report sets out a number of important lessons that will resonate with most of those running or working in mental health services.

“Providing care to those who become severely mentally unwell is about balancing a range of risks within a system that has limited resources and ensuring that the individual, their needs and safety are not lost sight of in that effort.

“We recognise the challenges in providing safe and therapeutic care. There is a risk, particularly where there are low numbers of available staff, that wards are operated solely on the basis of safety and teams feel unable to provide a therapeutic environment of care. Our members are working hard to deal with the continued rise in demand and the pressures this creates for inpatient care.

“The mental health sector – like the rest of the NHS – has long been starved of capital investment. That is why we are calling for the government to use the upcoming Spending Review to increase capital investment and open up much needed new routes for mutual investment from the private sector.

“One of the main aims of the Mental Health Bill – currently passing through Parliament – is to provide more therapeutic care, with the ‘Culture of Care’ and inpatient quality improvement programmes already beginning to address these issues. We look forward to working with the government and our members to implement the reforms more widely.”