Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to end out of area placements for mental health patients.

As set out in the NHS Long Term Plan, the Government remains committed to eliminating all inappropriate acute out of area placements for adults, people aged 18 and over.

We continue to work closely with NHS England to monitor this. All local areas that still have inappropriate acute out of area placements for adults are required to refresh their local plans to ensure these placements are eliminated everywhere as soon as reasonably possible.

Through the NHS Long Term Plan, we are investing an additional £2.3 billion a year by 2023/24 to expand and transform National Health Service mental health services, including community-based services, which will support more people to get the help they need close to home without needing to be admitted as an inpatient.

In addition, local areas can include measures to facilitate discharge from mental health inpatient settings when spending their allocation of the £500 million adult social care discharge fund. The additional £200 million for short-term NHS step-down packages and wraparound support announced on 9 January can also be used for these patients where appropriate.