Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many formal complaints have been made about (a) patient care on and (b) the management of assessment and treatment units in each of the last five years.

Access to an independent mental health advocacy (IMHA) is a statutory right for people detained under most sections of the Mental Health Act, subject to Guardianship or on a community treatment order. We would expect Assessment and Treatment Units to follow their statutory obligations to ensure patients have access to an IMHA where appropriate.

The Learning Disability Assuring Transformation statistics data shows that of the 2,565 inpatients at the end of April 2016, 600 patients had a main diagnostic category of mental illness on admission.

Data on the numbers of formal complaints made about patient care; the management of assessment and treatment units; access to autism-specialist services and access to occupational and speech and language therapy are not held centrally. However, NHS England, Association of Directors of Adult Social Services and Local Government Association, published in October 2015, a Service Model for commissioners of health and social care services. This model sets out that when people are admitted to inpatient settings services should seek to minimise their length of stay and any admissions should be supported by a clear rationale of planned assessment and treatment with measurable outcomes. We would therefore expect all patients, irrespective of inpatient setting, to have access to the treatment and therapeutic interventions they require.