RCN responds to acute mental health hospitals report

Published: 23 July 2008

The RCN has said that the recent Healthcare Commission report on acute mental health hospitals shows that new services developed in the community are effective. However, the College warns that in-patients are not getting a service as good as it could be.

After undertaking the largest ever review of acute inpatient mental health services, the Healthcare Commission has said there is a wide variation in the quality of acute mental health services across England.

9% of trusts were rated as “excellent”, 68% as good or fair and 23% as “weak”. But no trust was scored “excellent” across all four of the key criteria, - the standard of care, the involvement of patients and carers, safety and the patient journey.

Areas for action included improving the involvement of patients in their care, and improving the safety of visitors, service users and staff. High levels of violence were reported by nurses, with 45% saying they were physically assaulted in 2007.

Peter Carter, Chief Executive & General Secretary of the Royal College of Nursing said:

“Acute mental health services need to do more than just contain individuals, they need to provide healthcare workers with the resources required to ensure that care environments are safe and supportive. Mental health nurses are committed to delivering high quality care, but decision makers need to ensure that nurses are given plenty of opportunities to train and develop their skills, so that mental health care is of the highest quality across the country.

Whilst patients generally value their experience in acute mental health, the Commission points out that these can be tough places to work with worrying levels of assaults on staff. Mental health nurses are committed to improving care, but need to be recognised for the hard work they do and the knowledge and experience they can offer in the pursuit of high quality services in every part of the country.”

The report also highlighted a number of positive findings including good access to independent advocacy and to programmes to promote health, such as smoking cessation and healthy eating. Improvements were also noted in the proportion of mental health staff trained in diversity issues.

The review was conducted following previous reports highlighting concerns about the quality of inpatient mental health services.