UK | 1 in 5 mental health patients don’t feel safe in NHS care, Ombudsman finds

A new survey published by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman found that one in five people did not feel safe while in the care of the NHS mental health service that treated them.

Over half of people with mental health problems in England also said they experienced delays to their treatment, while four in ten (42%) said that they waited too long to be diagnosed.

When asked to share details of their experiences, one survey participant said that after they attempted to take their own life, they had to wait over six months to be referred to a specialist mental health team. Another said they felt they had been ‘talked over and about, not to’.

Despite the concerns raised by patients about their treatment in the survey, almost half (48%) said they would be unlikely to complain if they were unhappy with the service provided. Almost 70% of people said they had not been told how to complain by NHS staff.

Concerningly, one in three people (32%) said they did not think their complaint would be taken seriously while a quarter were worried complaining would affect how they were treated. The main reason given (40%) was that they would not want "to cause trouble".

 

Ombudsman Rob Behrens said:

"It’s unacceptable that so many patients requiring mental health treatment are left feeling unsafe in the NHS but this survey supports what we see too frequently in our casework. Patients must be supported to speak up when mistakes happen and not left scared that their treatment will be affected if they do so."

"While the NHS in England must continue to implement its Five Year Forward View for Mental Health, it should also look now at what more is needed to transform mental health services so the people who need them get the care they deserve."

The survey results are reinforced by the tragic case of a woman who took her own life when she was an inpatient at 2gether NHS Foundation Trust.

 

Source: Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, UK

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