The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is calling for urgent and sustained investment in the mental health nursing workforce following a UK-wide Freedom of Information (FOI) investigation that reveals a rise in the number of patients attending emergency departments in mental health crisis.
The FOI, published today, comes just days after the Welsh Government released its long-awaited Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy – a timely reminder that aspirations for better care must be matched by action and investment.
The RCN’s investigation found a significant increase in the number of mental health patients waiting more than 12 hours in A&E for appropriate care. Reports reveal harrowing experiences of patients waiting for up to three days, often in distress, without access to specialist mental health support.
In Wales, as in the rest of the UK, nursing staff are raising the alarm about the dangerous and inhumane conditions patients are facing. RCN Wales has heard reports of vulnerable patients being monitored by security staff in lieu of qualified mental health professionals, attempted suicides while awaiting care, and individuals leaving without receiving any treatment.
Last month, RCN Wales joined with BMA Cymru Wales to launch a petition urging the Welsh Government to eradicate corridor care in hospitals across Wales and ensure patient safety and dignified treatment.
RCN Wales warns that chronic underinvestment in community mental health services, combined with cuts to mental health bed capacity, is placing an unsustainable burden on emergency departments. Without significant investment in the community mental health nursing workforce, patients in crisis will continue to be funnelled into A&Es that are ill-equipped to provide the care they need.
Speaking at its annual Congress in Liverpool next week, RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive Professor Nicola Ranger will call for an “urgent, massive and sustained investment in community mental health nursing” to relieve the escalating pressure on emergency departments and deliver the safe, specialist care that people in crisis deserve. She will also condemn cuts to mental health beds as short-sighted and dangerous.
The RCN is demanding:
1. Access to Education – NHS staff must be able to access the professional development they need. Health Boards must stop obstructing nurses from gaining the training essential to safe, modern care.
2. Capital Investment in Residential Care – NHS mental health residential facilities are outdated and in disrepair. Vulnerable people deserve safe, therapeutic environments.
3. Expansion of Nurse Staffing Legislation – Section 25B of the Nurse Staffing Levels (Wales) Act, which mandates safe nurse staffing, must be extended to NHS mental health residential care as a matter of urgency.
Helen Whyley, Executive Director of RCN Wales, said:
"This report is a wake-up call. It is unacceptable that people in mental health crisis are being left for hours – sometimes days – in emergency departments that cannot meet their needs. The Welsh Government says mental health is a priority, but without real investment in mental health nursing, that promise is meaningless.
We need urgent action to recruit, retain and resource specialist nurses in our communities. Mental health patients deserve dignity, expertise and timely care – not queues, delays, and despair."
Notes to editors:
The RCN sent FOI requests to all UK NHS employers with emergency departments asking for:
a) The total number of mental health presentations each year between and including 2019 and 2024 (response rate: 55%)
b) How many of the patients identified in a) waited for more than 12 hours for a bed in a mental health unit after a decision to admit?
[a] The total number of mental health presentations in emergency departments over the five year period rose in Wales by 10%.
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is the voice of nursing across the including around 30,500 members in Wales. The RCN promotes the interests of nurses and patients on a wide range of issues and helps shape health care policy.
For more information, contact the RCN Wales communications and media team on 02920 680 769 or mediawales@rcn.org.uk
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