Two months ago, 20-year-old Lauren Bridges committed suicide. She was alone in a mental health hospital 250 miles away from her family. The move was intended to be temporary, but when he died, he was there for nine months. “As soon as I saw the phone ring, I knew. I just knew,” said her mother, Lindsey Bridges. “In the previous weeks, she was very disappointed. She said she saw no way out, she would stay in this hospital forever.” Image: Lauren’s family pictured visiting her in hospital during the COVID pandemic The government has pledged to end all out-of-area mental health placements by the end of 2021, but at the end of last year, there were at least 660 active out-of-district placements (IOAPs) in the UK. In total, these inappropriate placements cost the NHS more than 11 118 million in 2021. However, these numbers only reflect the placements we know and do not indicate the full extent of the problem. “Lauren would still be alive” Lauren was autistic, with a mental age of much less than 20, but succumbed to the mental health law after being diagnosed with a personality disorder. She was treated locally when she was sent to Manchester for lack of beds at her home in Dorset. Ms Bridges said that if the government had complied with its plan to end all placements outside the area, “then we would still have Lauren and other families may still have children”. She said she had not even been warned of her daughter’s move: “I woke up to a phone call from Lauren. She was hysterical, she was crying her eyes. “She said the transport to the hospital was on its way to pick her up and that they would send her to Manchester.” Picture: The family is devastated by Lauren’s death “She was scared to death,” he said, adding that distance was “absolutely” a factor in Lauren committing suicide. “It broke me, it was just catastrophic. There was nothing I could do about it. I tried my best to move it.” A Dorset HealthCare spokeswoman who trusted Lauren’s placement said they could not comment on individual placements, but said: “Outside placements are always used only as a last resort by services, whether at full capacity or when “A person has very complex needs and needs specialized care that is not available in Dorset.” We add: “We are always committed to reducing the need for off-site placements under the NHS Long-Term Plan, and in recent years we have undertaken an extensive work program to achieve this.” Adolescent “covered with scars” after placement In December, the latest data available for IOAPS, a quarter of relevant providers did not report data. The non-response rate is highest in the Southeast, where almost 40% have failed to release IOAP data. Of the out-of-area placements we know of that were still active at the end of 2021, 91% were deemed unsuitable. Of those who were active in 2021 as we know them, almost half (48.4%) were within 100 miles (66.6 miles) or more of the patient’s home, according to NHS data. Image: Claire Oliver asked for her daughter’s photo to be blurred for privacy reasons Placements for children, however, are not recorded at all. Among them was Imogen Smee, who desperately needed hospital treatment, but the relief of the family who offered her a bed soon changed to despair after she was sent almost seven hours away from their home in Whitstable – Bury. He was only 13 years old then. Claire Oliver, her mother, spent all her savings on gasoline and Airbnbs so she could be close to her daughter: “I thought she would never get better if she knew I was not here.” Image: Claire said her daughter returned home covered in scars Five months later, in November 2021, Imogen was discharged, but Mrs. Oliver said there was no plan to return to Kent and she is now so ill that she does not leave her room. “She came in a little bit self-harming, and she came out, and she’s covered in scars. Her body looks like the wound she was walking in,” Ms Oliver said. “Our life has completely collapsed” She has now been forced to quit her job to be Imogen’s full-time caregiver, calling the situation the family is in “inhuman”. “And he’s still not taking any medicine, and I think, what was the point of that?” said Mrs. Oliver. Image: Imogen was sent almost seven hours away from home “Our lives have completely collapsed.” He added: “Impact changes lives. I do not recognize myself, I do not recognize my daughter. “I do not know if we will ever get back from this.” Mrs Oliver’s MP, Rosie Duffield, is now trying to raise the issue in parliament. Ms Duffield said: “It’s really urgent, we need the health secretary to look at it and limit these mental health expenditures so that they are directed to services and not leaked to other NHS emergency areas. “We really need to take this seriously.” Picture: She has been discharged since then but she is so sick that she does not leave her room Inpatient beds were reduced by 70% The Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCPsych) says the only answer is more funding – not only for community mental health services, but also for the replacement of inpatient beds that have been cut by 70% in the last 30 years. Dr Trudi Seneviradne, RCPsych’s secretary, told Sky News: “Sending people miles away for treatment is simply unacceptable. “It’s destructive to their mental health and I use the word destructive because it’s really destructive.” Being so far from home, even when cared for well, “hinders recovery,” he said. “To avoid placements outside the area where possible, the reality on the ground is that the system is not working. Follow the Daily Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Spreaker “Although we have the expansion of community services, there are so many areas across the country that do not have enough inpatient beds. So when it’s the last resort, and someone really needs to be treated in an inpatient ward, trust is lacking. other than proposing an off-site placement. “ The government blames the pandemic for the lost target When asked, the government cited the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns as part of the reason why the goal of ending these placements was lost. However, RCPsych disputes this and claims that progress had stopped before the pandemic. Image: MP Rosie Duffield is now trying to raise the issue in parliament A spokesman for the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare said: “Everyone should have access to safe, appropriate mental health care and we recognize the impact that taking care away from loved ones can have. “That’s why we’re investing an extra 3 2.3 billion a year to transform the NHS mental health services by 2024, which means more people will be able to get care as close to home as possible.” “To address the effects of the pandemic, we have provided an additional 500 500 million through the Mental Health Recovery Action Plan to ensure that there is support this fiscal year.” Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call the Samaritans for help at 116 123 or email [email protected] in the UK. In the USA, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK
