Ann Ingram, a mother of an adult mental-health patient from Oxford reported concerns that she ‘may never see her daughter again’ after she was sent 160 miles away to Barnsley in Yorkshire for specialist care.
According to an Oxford Mail report, the 57 year old daughter of Ann Ingram, aged 80, had been a patient at the Warneford Hospital for two years. The patient’s recent and sudden transferral to Barnsley has left her isolated from her Oxford support network. Ann Ingram’s case is one of many out-of-area placements caused by a lack of local funding. In September alone, national figures reported almost six hundred out-of-area placements.
Oxfordshire Mind’s CEO, Dan Knowles, commented in the Oxford Mail’s report, calling for an end to out-of-area placements. Mental health services, he acknowledged, must be provided with the right support to tackle this issue.
‘Here at Oxfordshire Mind we believe that no patient should be treated miles away from family and friends, out of area care would not happen with physical health and we should not accept this treatment for any type of mental health treatment.’
‘NHS England has pledged to end out of area care by 2021, nevertheless it is concerning that out of area placements are still happening here in Oxfordshire.’
‘The abolition of these out of area placements can only happen with the correct funding and resources.’
Read the full report in the Oxford Mail here.