Making A&E Safer for Mental Health
- Lindsey Reynolds
- Aug 15
- 2 min read
Updated: Aug 18
In an A&E cubicle, what could save a life one minute could endanger it the next. For a patient in mental health crisis, almost everything within reach — from curtain tracks to monitor cables — can be a potential ligature risk
With almost everything in an A&E environment unsuitable for a patient in mental health crisis, how do we make A&E safer for these patients, without breaking the budget?
It is a dilemma that Protects Plus has already helped NHS Trusts tackle, collaborating with them on the redesign and risk assessments of their A&E mental health spaces to keep patients safe and compliant without draining budgets — but first, here’s why this challenge is so complex.
First is scale: 5% of all patients presenting at Emergency Departments have mental health needs¹. You might say 5% is quite low. Until you do the maths.
In the month of May alone, 2,395,886 people attended A&E departments across England².
That's nearly 120,000 people in a single month turning up to emergency departments in mental health crisis — the equivalent of the entire population of Exeter.
75.4% of patients were admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours, but given the shortage of places at specialist mental health facilities, wait times are typically longer. Indeed, mental health patients wait to be discharged, admitted or transferred for 10 hours on average, according to RCEM.
That is a long time to keep a significant number of patients safe in A&E.
And then there is the issue of compliance to consider. Different regulations apply to the equipment and fixings of mental health care environments. All must adhere to strict regulations to ensure the safety and well-being of patients, from the products used and how they are installed, to the frequency of maintenance and inspection.
Next steps
If you are one of those tasked with meeting these challenges, and open to exploring solutions, then Protects Plus can help.
Book a free, no-obligation call with us to see how we can help your A&E meet safety regulations, protect patients in crisis, and unlock funding — without adding to your workload.
Sources:
¹ The RCEM (Royal College of Emergency Medicine) National Inpatient Quality Improvement Programme (QIP) for 2022/2025
² NHS England monthly operational statistics
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