• In 2014/15, 1.8 million people in England used mental health services, with 103,840 being admitted to hospital
• Current estimates suggest that around 500 mentally ill people have to travel over 50km to be admitted into hospital every month
• Report has twelve recommendations to help achieve parity of esteem between acute mental and physical healthcare provision

The Independent Commission was set up in 2015 to address the issues facing patients in England needing acute care for mental health problems; patients who currently have no guarantee that they will be treated swiftly or that the care they receive will be of an expected standard.

Current estimates suggest that around 500 mentally ill people have to travel over 50km to be admitted into hospital every month. These long distance admissions are mainly due to difficulties in finding acute inpatient beds or suitable alternative services in their home area, and are a symptom of far more widespread problems in the functioning of the whole mental health system.

The report’s findings clearly demonstrate that acute adult inpatient care must be considered as essential mental health services

With system-wide problems including variable quality of care in inpatient units, inadequate availability of inpatient care or alternatives to inpatient admission when needed, and patients remaining in hospital for longer than necessary due to inadequate residential provision, the acute psychiatric care system was due a review. The Commission’s report consequently recommends significant changes to how mental health services are commissioned, organised and monitored across the whole mental health system.

Saffron Cordery, director of policy and strategy, NHS Providers, said: “We welcome today’s report. The Independent Commission has consulted extensively with mental health providers and recognised the excellent care across NHS mental health services, identifying many examples that offer best practice for expansion across the system. We also welcome the Commission’s recognition that NHS Providers has a key role to play in supporting our members in making the recommended improvements to help ensure access to acute mental healthcare becomes as timely as it is for physical healthcare.

“Our members have long been telling us about the crisis in beds and the need to ensure that people are not treated many miles from home. Improving quality in the provision of acute inpatient psychiatric care is not just about being able to access the right services, it's also about being able to leave the care of services in a timely and supported fashion. The report’s focus on delayed transfers of care points to an area where quality and experience can be improved for individuals, and also demonstrates the extent to which mental health services are part of the whole health and care ecosystem. This was central to our independent Right Place, Right Time Commission on delayed transfers of care which also majored on mental health and complements much of today’s report.

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