Rise in deaths of mental health patients needs investigating, says MP

The UK government has been urged to launch an investigation into the provision of mental healthcare in England, after new figures showed that the number of reports of patients dying unexpectedly has risen 21% over the past three years.

The figures, obtained by the Liberal Democrat MP Norman Lamb, show that the number of deaths among mental health patients rose from 1412 in 2012-13 to 1713 in 2014-15. The data, released by NHS England under the Freedom of Information Act, also showed that the number of those people committing suicide or trying to do so rose by 26% …