19/06/2013
Mental health link to hospital use
New figures highlight the pressure on general hospital services posed by patients with mental illness.
These patients are twice as likely as others to visit hospital accident & emergency departments, the figures show.
They come after the NHS England review of urgent services highlighted the need for emergency departments to have access to psychiatric support.
The report shows that in a single year 41% of mental health service users visited an accident & emergency department at least once - representing some 632,000 patients.
This compares with 19.7% of the general population, the Health and Social Care Information Centre revealed.
Some 37% of these patients were admitted to hospital at least once and 67% had at least one out-patient appointment.
Centre chair Kingsley Manning said: "By providing this type of information, which was never before available, we can help health professionals see what is happening across health and social care and begin to explore what lies behind these facts and figures.
"This in turn will support improved treatments and outcomes and drive better care for patients and the public."