Seriously ill people being ‘warehoused’ in private facilities 300 miles from home

Shocking BMA research found seriously ill people from the borough are facing round trips of up to 296 miles ­— with journey times of 10 hours and six minutes ­— to access services as far away as Plymouth.

Bury Clinical Commissioning Group patients experienced journey times and distances greater than any in the North West ­— with an average round trip of two hours and 36 minutes.

In a report published in The Doctor magazine, the BMA also hit out at what it dubbed a “widespread practice” of severely ill people being admitted to private wards, isolated from family members and having little to no contact with NHS doctors overseeing their treatment.

Dr Andrew Molodynski, a psychiatrist and the BMA lead for mental health, said: “This practice goes against the very nature of rehabilitation which should be a transitional process, helping to reintegrate a patient back into society.

“The ‘cut-off’ nature of these institutions can be a breeding ground for the development of harsh and abusive cultures. This has no place in modern mental healthcare.”

Mental health rehabilitation provides intensive support for patients, helping them to get their lives back on track.

Rehab care costs the NHS £535 million a year, and stays can last months or years before people are settled back into their homes.

However stays can take twice as long in private facilities, according to the Care Quality Commission.

Dr Raj Mohan, chairman of the Rehabilitation and Social Psychiatry Faculty, Royal College of Psychiatrists, said the NHS is "failing" patients in need of rehab care.

He added: “When mental health rehabilitation services are offered at the right time and in the right place, they can make an enormous difference to the lives of people live with the most complex and serious forms of mental illness.

“In many areas without rehabilitation resources, out of area care has now become the default position and CQC highlighted this in 2018.

“There is a huge human and financial cost to sending someone out of area.

“Each out of area placement is a vulnerable person sent away from their family, friends, and the places they know, and makes it harder for them to access the services they need when they are ready to live in the community again.”

Private firms are also becoming increasingly dependent on NHS outsourcing, annexing a growing share of the NHS budget year-on-year, while beds continue to be cut in the public sector, the BMA reported.

Since 2016, 86 per cent of Bury CCG’s mental health rehab spending has gone on funding private provision.

This equates to a £1.2 million jump in spend on the private sector in the last four years ­— rising to £4.8 million.

Dr. Daniel Cooke, clinical director for NHS Bury CCG, said: “Due to the highly specialised nature of mental health rehabilitation services, it is sometimes necessary for patients to receive care out of their local area.

"This is not ideal, but is also not unique to Bury with other areas across the country facing similar challenges.

“Bury is in the process of addressing this issue by redesigning and developing our community and crisis response offer for mental health.

"The aim is to reduce the number of people going into a mental health crisis, and for those that do, there will be a more robust offer to support their needs.

"This will lead to less out of area placements and a greater proportion of patients receiving care and support in their own home in the future.”

Paul Farmer, chief executive of mental health charity Mind, added: “Rehabilitation services play a vital role in helping people to return to living more independently in their communities.

“They help people get out of cycles of repeat A&E visits and acute inpatient admissions – which is better for them and for the health service.

“We know good care is possible and that there are places where people are having their needs met in appropriate settings. This should be the case everywhere.”