Out of Area treatments are used regularly to help people get the treatment they need for mental health difficulties. However, new statistics have shown that 96% were inappropriate. Why does it matter? Out of Area treatments cost the NHS over £112 million last year.
It’s been found that £108 million of that figure was spent on inappropriate placements, in other words, the NHS shouldn’t have had to spend that money. Not all of those placements were for mental health reasons; of the ones that were mental health related Out of Area placements 96% were classed as inaproproate. So what are the NHS going to do to tackle this problem of inappropriate treatment of people with mental health difficulties?
Well, they’ve promised an extra £1.6bn towards improving the stats and have set themselves the optimistic target of 0 Out of Area treatments by 2021. This sounds like it could improve things and save the NHS money in the long run. Are the figures a little too optimistic? Maybe. After making that statement, the number of Out of Area treatments has actually risen, not fallen.
Is this the start of mental health care being taken seriously by governing bodies? We are spending unnecessary money to provide anti-climatic results, if the NHS can deliver on their promises, we will surely see a brighter future for mental health care.
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