Robin Ward

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for    
Patient Safety, Women’s Health and Mental Health  

39 Victoria Street   
London  SW1H 0EU   

Mr Hassan Shah  
Assistant Coroner for Northamptonshire  
The Guildhall  St 
Giles’ Square  
Northampton   
NN1 1DE  

13 January 2025  

Dear Mr Shah,  

Thank you for your Regulation 28 report of 18 October 2024 sent to the Secretary of State 
for Health and Social Care about the death of Mr Robin Andrew Ward. I am replying as the 
Minister with responsibility for mental health.        

Firstly, I would like to say how saddened I was to read of the circumstances of Mr Ward’s 
death, and I offer my sincere condolences to his family and loved ones. The circumstances 
your  report  describes  are  deeply  concerning  and  I  am  grateful  to  you  for  bringing  these 
matters to my attention. Thank you also for the additional time provided to the Department 
to provide a response to the concerns raised in the report.  

Your  report  raises  concerns  over  local  and  national  pressures  regarding  the  provision  of 
acute mental health beds, which can lead to the use of out of area acute beds and crisis 
houses as an alternative - which may not offer the same level of clinical capacity and safe 
environment as a hospital setting. It also raises concerns about the long waiting times to 
access an NHS psychological assessment.   

In preparing this response, my officials have made enquiries with NHS England to ensure 
we adequately address your concerns.  

I am sure you will appreciate that the number of mental health inpatient beds required to 
support  a  local  population  is  dependent  on  both  local  mental  health  need  and  the 
effectiveness of the whole local mental health system in providing timely access to care and 
supporting  people  to  stay  well  in  the  community,  therefore  reducing  the  likelihood  of 
an inpatient admission being necessary. I also recognise that mental health services have 
been under significant strain in recent years due to the rise in demand and the Department 
will continue to work with the NHS to maximise capacity.  

Over the past few years, NHS England has been developing a new community mental health 
framework to improve community support for people with severe mental illness, with the aim 
of improving patient care and avoiding the need for an inpatient admission where possible, 
thus freeing up more beds.   

 
    
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
   
   
  
   
  
 NHS England’s 2024/25 priorities and operational planning guidance reinforces this focus 
on improving patient flow as a key priority – with local health systems directed to reduce the 
average length of stay in adult acute mental health wards to deliver more timely access to 
local beds. And in areas where there is a clear need for more beds, this has been addressed 
in part through investment in new units, as part of a whole system transformation approach.  

Turning  to  the  role  of  crisis  houses,  these  play  an  important  role  in  local  crisis  response 
systems  by  reducing  the  demands  on  busy  emergency  mental  health  services,  allowing 
them to deal with the most serious cases.  They also provide a more familiar and therapeutic 
alternative to a clinical hospital setting for people who are experiencing distress or crisis.  In 
the Autumn Budget 2024 we committed £26 million in capital investment to open new mental 
health crisis centres to reduce the pressure on busy A&E services and ensure more people 
get the support they need when they need it.   

Local integrated care boards (ICBs) and commissioning partners such as local authorities 
have flexibility to decide how to arrange the provision of crisis houses and similar facilities 
in their local area. However, in providing this flexibility, we expect crisis house services to be 
designed  in  a  way  which  aligns  with  national  requirements  and  guidance  and  local 
structures, to ensure appropriate safeguarding processes are in place.   

Where there are concerns about the provision provided in specific crisis houses, local ICBs 
and/or local authorities are best placed to address these as the organisations responsible 
for decisions  about  the  provision  of  services  in  their  area.  I  have asked  NHS  England  to 
provide me with a report from the ICB detailing the local position so that I can understand 
what actions are being taken locally to prevent such a case from happening again.   

Finally,  turning  to  your  concerns  around  long  waiting  times  to  access  a  psychological 
assessment,  it  is unacceptable  that  too  many  people  are  not  receiving  the  mental health 
care they need when they need it and we know that waits for mental health services are far 
too long. We are determined to change that. As part of our mission to build an NHS that is 
fit for the future and that is there when people need it, we will make sure that mental health 
care is delivered in the community where appropriate, close to people’s homes, through new 
models of care and support, so that fewer people need to go into hospital. We will also recruit 
an additional 8,500 mental health workers to cut waiting times and provide faster treatment 
which will also help ease pressure on busy mental health services. These new workers will 
be specially trained to support people at risk of suicide.  

I hope this response is helpful. Thank you for bringing these concerns to my attention.    

Yours sincerely,   

PARLIAMENTARY UNDER-SECRETARY OF STATE FOR PATIENT 
SAFETY, WOMEN’S HEALTH AND MENTAL HEALTH