Mental health services in England are at crisis point, says Dr Martin Baggaley, medical director of the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust (BBC News, 16th October 2013). In recent years more than 1500 beds have closed with many NHS trusts working beyond capacity.
The research conducted by BBC News and Community Care magazine found that a minimum of 1,711 mental health beds have been closed since April 2011, including 277 between April and August 2013, a 9% reduction in the total number of mental health beds - 18,924 - available in 2011/12.
Speaking to the BBC, Dr Baggaley, commented: "We are in a real crisis at the moment. I think currently the system is inefficient, unsafe. We're certainly feeling it on the front line, it's very pressured, and we spend a lot of our time struggling to find beds, sending people across the country which is really not what I want to do. There seems to be a genuine increase in demand. That's partly explained by a reduction in beds, by resources coming out of the health system, the squeeze on social services budgets, and by the general economic situation."
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Wednesday 16 October 2013
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