The NHS is reliant on private mental health services to treat seriously ill patients, often miles away from loved ones, and is doing too little to ensure they are not being kept in treatment longer than necessary, the care watchdog has said.
A report by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) today warns the health service is spending £350m a year to send these patients “out of area” for care.
Experts told The Independent this reliance is down to a lack of inpatient services to support patients locally, and a lack of incentives for “specialist” centres to send patients home.
The CQC is now calling on NHS managers to draw up plans to “repatriate patients” and to ensure every patient has a care plan aimed at getting them better to bring them back into the community.
Article from The Independent, 1 March 2018