19 February 2020
Our survey asked people about their experiences of using NHS mental health services in England. It included an open question that allowed participants to give more detail about their experiences.
The key findings were:
- one in five people (20%) did not feel safe while in the care of the NHS mental health service that treated them
- over half (56%) said they experienced delays to their treatment, and four in ten (42%) said they waited too long to be diagnosed
- almost half (48%) said they would be unlikely to complain if they were unhappy with the service provided
- one in three (32%) said they did not think their complaint would be taken seriously
- the main reason given for not complaining was that they would not want ‘to cause trouble’.
The survey results show that people continue to experience the five common failings we identified in our Maintaining Momentum report:
- Failure to diagnose and/or treat the patient
- Poor risk assessment and safety practices
- Not treating patients with dignity and/or infringing human rights
- Poor communication with the patient and/or their family or carers
- Inappropriate hospital discharge and aftercare of the patient
You can download the results of the survey in full below.
Read the press release about this survey.