£30m to curb sex attacks on wards for mentally ill

As seen in the Times Online in Britiain

The Government pledged £30million yesterday to increase the safety of women at risk of sexual attacks on mental health wards.

The announcement came four months after The Times disclosed the existence of a report from the National Patient Safety Agency saying that there had been at least 19 suspected rapes of mental health patients in England, and more than 100 other improper sexual incidents in psychiatric units over the previous two years.

The figures had been in the hands of ministers for months without being published. Lord Warner, the Health Minister, faced a barrage of questions in the House of Lords, where the Government was accused of inexcusable negligence.

The Department of Health will now allocate £30 million to improve safety on mental health wards, particularly for women. It also plans to increase support for patients who wish to report incidents and will issue guidance to help mental health trusts ensure allegations are managed “effectively and appropriately”.

The national director for mental health, Louis Appleby, said more needed to be done to improve safety on wards, even though he had doubts that all of the reported rapes had actually taken place.

Professor Appleby said: “Although the vast majority of mental health patients receive safe and effective care, we need to do more to prevent serious incidents from occurring and, when they do occur, we must ensure that they are dealt with effectively.

“I was particularly concerned by some of the issues raised by the recent National Patient Safety Agency report, especially the 19 allegations of rape.

“I have now collected information from the mental health trusts where these incidents are said to have taken place. Although it was not our aim to determine whether the allegations were true, we did receive details on most cases and, in my opinion, there is significant doubt in the majority as to whether any incident occurred.

“For example, several allegations were made when the patient’s mental state was severely disturbed, and the details of the allegations reflected this.” There was significant doubt in 13 of the 19 cases and too few details on the rest to make any comment.

But he added: “Despite what has been discovered about these 19 cases, I believe that the general issue of sexual safety remains important and I am determined to see that this issue is addressed.

“I am therefore proposing to take forward a series of measures to reassure patients, further improve safety and ensure that all incidents are fully investigated.

“Thanks to substantial investment, services have improved considerably in recent years. However, we must now redouble our efforts to further improve the quality of services and ensure that patients receive the best care possible.”

Mental health charities welcomed the move. Moira Fraser, head of policy at the Mental Health Foundation, said: “For too long, people with mental health problems within services have been at risk from abuse and it is heartening that this issue is now being taken seriously.

“We hope that the measures announced by the Department of Health herald the start of a process to eradicate abuse.

“The attitudes of managers and frontline staff need to be changed, patients must feel safe to report any incidents of harassment, rape or sexual assault, and any such incidents must always be taken seriously by staff and acted upon instead of being dismissed.”

Paul Farmer, chief executive of the charity Mind, said: “Mind has been highlighting the problem of unsafe wards for a long time. We are glad that moves are now being made towards better inpatient safety. We look forward to working with the Department on its guidance on improving sexual safety.

“Patients have to believe that it is worth making a complaint and that they will be taken seriously. Too often this isn’t the case, and patients feel ignored or intimidated.

“This can only be addressed by creating a comprehensive and accessible reporting system, accompanied by a culture of respect for all patients and intolerance of harassment and abuse.

“The eradication of mixed-sex wards must be an absolute priority. This is long-overdue and would go some way to reducing fear and intimidation among patients.”