Research highlights importance of follow-up after discharge from mental health hospital

13 April 2017

Freedom of Information data obtained by the mental health charity Mind suggest that in 2015-16 11,000 people did not get the follow-up they should have received within a week of leaving a mental health hospital.

A survey by the charity found those who were not followed up appropriately were twice as likely to attempt suicide compared with those who did receive this support.

In response, the director of policy and strategy and NHS Providers, Saffron Cordery, said:

“It is really important that people discharged from hospital are followed up within seven days, in accordance with the NICE guidelines. This is vital in order to protect patient safety and reduce suicides.

These figures are a further indication of the extent to which mental health services are overstretched and under-resourced.

“These figures are a further indication of the extent to which mental health services are overstretched and under-resourced. We also know that pressures on local authorities and social care are impacting on discharge planning in mental health as they are in acute care.  It is worrying that insufficient capacity to ensure appropriate follow up is adding to these pressures, by increasing the risk of people returning to A & E with mental health problems and being re-admitted.

“We have heard the commitments to ensure mental health gets the priority it deserves. The time to act on these is long overdue. Action means higher levels of investment and, critically, making sure that investment reaches the frontline."