Report: Commission on Acute Adult Psychiatric Care – Interim findings
By News England, ,

A new report from the Commission on Acute Adult Psychiatric Care (CAAPC) has published it’s interim findings into the provision of acute inpatient psychiatric beds and alternatives to admission available for patients.

There is evidence – some quantified, some anecdotal – of difficulties in admissions, variable services for patients in the community, long distance transfers of patients, high occupancy rates and high stress levels amongst patients, their families, carers and staff.

Key findings from the report were that:

  • The so-called bed or admission crisis in adult mental health is very significantly a problem of discharges and alternatives to admission that can only be addressed through changes in services and management of the whole system.

  • A Commission survey of acute adult psychiatric wards found that 92% of wards surveyed are treating patients who could have been treated by other services if they had been available. In practice, this applies to approximately three patients per ward (16%).

  • The survey also found that  approximately three patients per ward (16%) are clinically well enough to be discharged from inpatient care, but cannot be because of other factors.

The Commission is independent of Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCPsych) and is being chaired by Lord Nigel Crisp (pictured), former Chief Executive of the NHS in England and Permanent Secretary of the UK Department of Health between 2000 and 2006. It has been asked to review the situation, examine the causes of these pressures and make recommendations for improvement. 

The CAAPC was set up by RCPsych in response to widespread concerns about the provision of acute inpatient psychiatric beds and alternatives to admission available for patients.

The Commission’s remit covers England and Northern Ireland and it will seek to identify and respond to similarities and differences between, and within, these administrations. Scotland is excluded from the Commission scope as it is undertaking its own programme of work to review psychiatric beds and the decision was taken in May 2015 that organisations from Wales would no longer participate in the Commission.

To download the Interim Report, visit: http://www.caapc.info/