Patients take part in mental health survey

A survey of people who use mental health services published yesterday by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) shows that there are still some people whose experience of care needs to improve, especially around areas such as help with physical health and day-to-day living.

The 2012 survey of people who use mental health services asks about the experiences of more than 15,000 people during the past 12 months. The questionnaires were sent out by 61 NHS mental health trusts in England.

People were asked about the care and support they received from mental health services outside hospital, such as those offered by outpatient clinics, local teams providing crisis home treatment, assertive outreach, early intervention for psychosis, and generic community mental health services.

In line with last year’s survey, most people responded positively to questions about the health or social care worker they saw most recently, with the majority saying they ‘definitely’ had enough time to discuss their condition and treatment, that the health or social care worker took their views into account and treated them with respect and dignity.

There were improvements in aspects of crisis care, with more respondents saying they had the number of someone to call in their local NHS mental health service outside office hours, increasing from 58 per cent in 2011 to 60 per cent in 2012. Of those who called the number, 50 per cent ‘definitely’ got the help they needed and 30 per cent did ‘to some extent’. However almost a fifth (17 per cent) of those who called this number said that they did not get the help that they needed and three per cent could not get through to anyone.