More mental health beds are needed to reduce out-of-area treatment, says royal college

The Royal College of Psychiatrists has called for hundreds more NHS mental health beds in England to end the “shameful” practice of sending severely ill patients far from their home for treatment.

“Out of area” placements are necessary when no local hospital bed is available to admit the patient. The government has pledged to end all inappropriate out-of-area placements for acutely ill adult patients by 2021.

But the college warned that progress towards this target had been too slow. …