NHS Confederation responds to the rapid review into data on mental health inpatient settings

Responding to the publication of the final report and recommendations of the rapid review into data on mental health inpatient settings, Sean Duggan, chief executive of the NHS Confederation's Mental Health Network, said:

“Health leaders working in mental health services are committed to ensuring the safety and dignity of those who need inpatient care. They are clear that the examples we have seen and heard of over the past few months are simply not acceptable and welcome the rapid review that has been undertaken into data on mental health inpatient settings, and in particular, Dr Geraldine Strathdee’s close engagement with the sector which has helped to inform the recommendations of this important report.

“They will also welcome the Secretary of State’s statement that was delivered to the House today and the improvements which have been made across NHS services in Essex, but as he rightly points out, there is much more that must, and can be done to improve the quality of care provided in mental health services across the country.

“However, these changes won’t happen overnight, and can only be taken forward if we have the right staffing levels in place which must be addressed in the forthcoming NHS Workforce Plan, particularly the staffing shortages in mental health and learning disability nurses which impact on patient safety, and we also need to see a new funding settlement for mental health including sufficient capital investment in our crumbling estates which aren’t fit for purpose.

“We look forward to working with the new Health Services Safety Investigations Body, and it will be important that mental health leaders and systems are collaboratively involved in this and any further national investigations that take place, so we can all bring about the change we want to see take place in mental health services, but we also need to see other changes take place alongside this including reforms to the Mental Health Act which must be taken forward as a matter for urgency.”