Support for parents in in-patient psychiatric care in English NHS trusts: Freedom of Information survey.

Abstract

Aims and method: Parental hospitalisation harms parent-child relationships and child outcomes. Thus, supporting parent-child connection is enshrined in the Mental Health Act (1983). However, there is no recent evaluation of provision or understanding of the prevalence of parents in in-patient settings.We sent a cross-sectional Freedom of Information request to all 50 English National Health Service (NHS) trusts that provide in-patient psychiatric services, aiming to capture the following: parental admissions; information on parental status; parenting-related policies/procedures/materials; and frequency of children's visits.

Results: Only 5 trusts could report the prevalence of parenthood (M = 13.9% of patients); 11 could report the information they collect on parental status; 28 provided policies; 18 provided materials for parents, carers or children; and 1 held data on child visits.

Clinical implications: Most English NHS trusts do not hold basic information about parents in in-patient psychiatric settings. This suggests widespread failure to meet the requirements of the Mental Health Act, and probably failure to support families and ensure the safeguarding of children.