Impact of poor mental health care in ED ‘weighs heavily’ on doctors

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By Daniel Pye

The risk of harm caused to mental health patients subjected to long waits and poor support in emergency departments “weighs heavily” on doctors.

In response to an investigation into the care of patients suffering from mental health crisis in EDs, the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) said the environment is not one that “facilitates recovery”.

It called on other specialities to take “joint ownership”, so the right care is delivered to acute mental health patients.

The report is the second of two from the Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB).

Family members of patients seeking help described the environment in EDs as “like a warzone” to the investigators.

Staff told the investigators EDs are “noisy, bright and overcrowded” with limited calm, privacy or therapeutic engagement.

These conditions intensified distress and increased the likelihood of people trying to leave, HSSIB heard.

ED staff told investigators there were gaps in their training about how to respond to people who had both physical and mental health needs.