An NHS secure mental health unit. Critics have said stays in these wards should not be a long-term option. Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the Guardian
Thousands of mental health patients are being kept in secure wards for years at a time when they should be being rehabilitated and preparing to leave hospital, a NHS watchdog has revealed.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) criticised both NHS and for-profit mental health providers for forcing such a large number of patients to endure what it called “outdated and sometimes institutionalised care”, often miles from home. The practice leaves already vulnerable patients feeling isolated and less likely to recover, the CQC warned.
More than 3,500 patients in 248 mental health wards are kept locked-in. In 2015-16 some stayed for 45 days, but others had been there for up to 1,744 days – four and a half years – the care regulator found.
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Four and a half years locked away is simply not sensible but in these times of austerity (for which read staff shortages) may be the only answer for those who are not only a danger to themselves but possibly to others.
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