Mental Health Services: Hospital Beds

(asked on 26th January 2023) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of bed capacity in mental health care; and what steps his Department is taking to increase that capacity.


Answered by
Maria Caulfield Portrait
Maria Caulfield
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
This question was answered on 2nd February 2023

No such specific assessment has been made. It is the responsibility of commissioners to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population.

We are supporting integrated care boards to expand mental health services through the NHS Long Term Plan, which commits to increasing investment into mental health services by at least £2.3 billion a year by 2023/24. This will see a significant expansion in community and crisis mental health services to help people get quicker access to the care they need and prevent avoidable deterioration and hospital admission, so that beds are available for those who need them.

On 23 January 2023 we set out detail on how £150 million of capital investment, first announced at the 2021 Spending Review, will be used to build mental health urgent and emergency care infrastructure. This includes funding for 150 wider capital schemes to provide and improve crisis cafes, crisis houses, mental health urgent care centres, health-based places of safety and broader improvements to crisis lines and emergency departments. This will mean care can be provided in more appropriate spaces for those in need and will reduce pressure on wider parts of the system.

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