Barbara Keeley MP, Labour’s Shadow
Mental Health Minister, commenting on the BBC’s research into delayed
discharges from mental health units, said:
“It is a scandal that some patients are waiting years to be
discharged, despite being medically fit for discharge.
“Under the Tories, mental health services have come under
increasing pressure due to underfunding and staffing shortages, and also the
lack of integrated working.
“It is unacceptable that patients are stuck in mental health
units for such long periods waiting to be discharged despite being fit to
leave. The delay puts their recovery at risk and means that other people
who urgently need to access mental health services are not able to get the
treatment they need. It should never be the case that such extended delays are
caused by wrangling between different health bodies over funding.
“Labour would invest more in mental health to ease the pressures
and we would ring-fence mental health spending so that funding for mental
health is not used to fill holes elsewhere in NHS budgets.”
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